Achilles
by Riza Winters
Summary: Rescued after weeks of torture, Reno brings home secrets once forgotten that pit his loyalty to the Turks against his loyalty to Shinra. Rather than cope with what happened, he makes it his mission to hunt down the truth about project Achilles.
1. Chapter 1

_**AN: This story is fully focused on Shinra and the Turks in Midgar, no definite time frame on this other than it is before the mansion was destroyed.**_

* * *

Tseng looked up from his desk, already reading the situation in his subordinate's face. "You've located him?"

"Rude's on the scene." Elena said between breaths. She had run all the way here. "He said he wasn't waiting."

"Of course. Let's back him up."

Tseng rose, Elena hesitated. "Are you sure you should go, sir?" He reached behind his chair for a crutch and leaned on it heavily as he made his way out of the room. Elena dropped her papers so she could open the door for him- her other arm was strapped tightly to her body in a sling.

"I'm just as fine as you are, Elena, now let's go."

The two Turks moved as quickly as they were able down the hall.

* * *

The prisoner fell in a heap on the floor when his bonds were cut from the pipe above. Little mercy came from the guard who nudged him with a heavy black boot but the captive was barely responsive.

"C'mon kid, get up." He made to boot him a little harder but paused, seeing how little his chest moved, so instead he knelt next to him and reached past the blood stained collar of his shirt to feel his pulse. "Shit." he breathed out and reached to pulled the young man up. What little strength was left in him flinched against the touch and moaned out as sore body parts were moved, but abruptly the guard let go and they both fell to the floor again. The captive moaned again but his tired eyes opened enough to see a shocked face staring back at him. The guard's eyes were wide open but lifeless. It took a long moment for the prisoner to register a second person in the room.

"No." He flinched away when this new threat reached out. Gloved fingers paused at his protest before pulling away.

"It's me." said the guard, reaching up to pull off the hood and high collar that were standard issue. "Reno, it's me Rude."

The red head seemed to choke on his own breath at this, his green eyes taking in that bald head, the dull glint of metal studding one ear. Rude reached forward again but still Reno flinched back.

"Reno..." He watched his partner's laboured breathing, took in every detail of his tortured form- his once white shirt, just about rags on him now, showing many of the injuries on his too-thin body. His hands were still bound together, his feet also, and both wrists and ankles were chaffed to the point of bleeding. But it was his face that was most shocking. Not the cuts, the bruised or the blood, but his eyes, the fear, the confusion, the desperation. After holding his gaze, however, something deep within them flickered and suddenly Reno was lurching forward, his bound hands reaching out.

"Rude." His shaky voice brimmed with emotion. Trembling fingers rose to touch his face. For a moment Rude lost sight of the urgency, of the need to keep moving, and just let the fingers trace over him, over his nose, his cheek and then they were on his jacket, gripping tight. "Rude." his said again, voice faint and on the edge of a sob. And then Rude was moving. He pulled Reno against him and whispered in his ear as he worked at the bonds on his wrists.

"We have to get you out of here. But you're going to have to help me."

"How?"

"Get you in this guy's suit and we walk out."

Silence met his statement.

"Reno?"

"You're alone, aren't you?"

Rude sighed. "Elena knows where I went, but yes, for now we're alone. But we can do this. We just need to get you cleaned up a bit first." He reluctantly pulled Reno away and lay him on the floor. He undid the bindings on his feet. They were covered in blood, he wasn't sure if it was all from the chaffing or not.

"Here," Rude moved from his feet to his head when he spotted a bottle of water. "Drink some of this, but not all. I need something to clean you off with."

He helped Reno sit and take a drink.

"Now let's get this shirt off you." He couldn't take the time to clean these wounds, they would be well covered. But he washed Reno's feet before shoving them into the dead guar'd boots and scrubbed as much grime as he could from his fingers. Reno was doing his best to sit upright on his own while Rude wiped his face as clean as he could get it.

"You think you can walk?"

"I have to, right?" Reno winced as Rude helped his arm through the jacket sleeve. He pulled the collar as high as it would go and tucked every lose strand of red hair into the hood.

"Need to get you a hair cut when we get home." Rude whispered as he checked over his work, making sure not to miss a detail.

"Shower first." Reno grunted back.

Rude chuckled, "yeah, okay." He put his hands under Reno's armpits and pulled him to his feet. The moment he let go Reno began to fall again and when Rude caught him, he felt the tremors in his body.

"Oh shit Rude, it hurts." His voice was near breaking.

"What hurts?"

"Everything." He barely hissed.

"I'm sorry partner, but there is no other way out. Please try."

For a moment his only response were a few sharp intakes of breath but then Reno tried to straighten up. He was weak, but it wasn't just that, things weren't working quite right. Who knew what was broken or sprained. Reno made a frustrated groan and grabbed onto Rude while he did his best to force his legs to take his weight. It took nearly a full minute before he pulled back and stood on his own, breathing as hard as if he'd just ran up ten flights of stairs.

"Okay."

"Reno-"

"There is a stairwell just at the other end of this hall." Reno breathed staring up at him. "I can make it there, if you can carry me down."

"Of course, as long as no one is around."

"Shoot them Rude. Promise me you'll just shoot them and run. Do not let us get caught in this Hell hole."

"Where do we go from the bottom of the stairs?"

"Promise me, Rude."

"I promise. Now where do we go?"

"I'm not sure, they've kept me up here most of the time, but I think you turn left and then right and you're at the main doors."

"I came in through the back. The front is too risky, I'm going to retrace my steps."

"I can't walk that far, Rude. Too many halls, and too many people. Take the stairwell please. If you get me that far, I will walk out the front doors, I swear."

"The front is the most heavily guarded. If you stumble-"

"I won't, I can make it that far. Please Rude, get me out of here."

"Okay." Rude supported him over to the door, but once they turned that handle and stepped into the well lit, pristine hallway, then he had to let go and hope Reno could make it to the end on his own. They walked side by side, passing men and women, some in business clothes, others in lab coats, all with ID tags clipped prominently on their lapels. Rude could hear Reno's laboured breathing, but it was really the only give away. He was fighting with everything he had to get to the end of that hallway.

"This one." Reno breathed out and reached for the door handle, practically falling against it. Rude quickly pushed it open and Reno stumbled inside. He leaned against the rail while Rude checked that the coast was clear.

"Okay, here we go." He knelt down so that Reno could slide onto his back. His grip was pretty slack around Rude's neck, the other knew they had to hurry. He ran down those stairs as fast as he dared- not wanting to make noise or jostle Reno too much. He felt Reno's head heavy against his shoulder and just prayed he hadn't lost consciousness. When he reached the bottom however, he felt his fears were true. He eased Reno down and the other slumped against the wall. He sat there, eyes closed and softly breathing.

"Please Reno, wake up."

He wasn't quite under, those green eyes parted again, but they were nearly unseeing.

"RENO!" Rude desperately shook him until his eyes snapped open more sharply. Then Reno was retracting from his partner in pain, arms curling in close about his body protectively. He trembled, as if waiting for worse pain to come. It took Rude a long moment to realize what had happened and he pulled his hood down to show his face again.

"Reno, remember you're with me. We're getting out of here."

Reno stared at him for a second before relaxing slightly. "Of course, sorry." But a stray tear slid down his pale cheek and disappeared beneath the collar.

"It's not so far now. We're almost free." Rude encouraged.

Reno nodded but he was shaking much worse now. Another tear streamed down. Rude moved closer to him and gripped his face.

"You can do this, Reno. You just need to hold on a little longer. And then I'm taking you home."

"Why aren't the other Turks here?"

"There was no time to warn them except for a phone call. I had to act while I could."

"Then how did _you_ find me?"

"In one of the videos you see a uniformed guard for just a second. But I recognized the uniform when I saw one of the guards on a smoke break outside this building. I just acted."

"You saw the videos?"

"Reno, it's okay."

"Who else saw them?"

"Reno, don't worry about that right now, we have to get out."

"Did you see them all, Rude?"

"Reno, please-"

"Answer me."

"Yes, I saw all four of them."

"Four?" Reno considered this for a moment. "Okay."

"Why, Reno, why, should there be more? How many did they make? How often did they torture you?"

Now it was Rude who wanted answers but Reno just shook his head. "Let's go. Help me up."

"Okay, we're leaving." Rude opened the door. No one was there so he was able to help Reno for a few paces but as soon as they made the second turn the halls were packed with people. The main lobby was full of employees and security, waiting at elevators, signing in at the main desk, walking through the upright scanners, getting coffee, chatting idly.

"Just don't stop moving." Rude lead them into the crowd. He marched straight for the light- for the clear glass doors and freedom.

They made it about ten paces.

Reno had done his best, truly, but someone in a hurry to get where they were going bumped into him. She hollered as hot coffee spilled down her front and he yelled in pain as he collapsed to the floor.

"What's going on?" Another guard yelled. Rude reached for Reno and hauled him up.

"Nothing, it's fine."

"What's wrong with him?" He asked suspiciously.

"Nothing."

"Does he not speak? Soldier, what's wrong with you?"

The guard reached for Reno's hood. The moment it fell down, revealing that red hair and battered face, Rude knew they were dead.

"Get them!"

The guard dropped dead at their feet, Rude kept to his promise. He supported Reno on one side and let the bullets rip on the other.

It was all a blur of shattered glass and deafening shots to Reno until he was skidding across white tiled floor, another body beside him.

"Rude." He saw the creases in his partner's face, and then the streak of red across the tile. "No." he sat up, realizing Rude had hurled them behind the reception desk for cover, but he was bleeding badly and the men were coming.

"Where are you hit?" Reno asked desperately trying to spot the wound and keep track of the guard's movements. Rude had taken three down. Reno took his gun and checked the clip.

"More, in my jacket..." Rude mumbled, trying to reach for the extra clips.

"Good. Now where are you hit?" Reno grabbed the clips and reloaded. Though his whole body shook from pain and fatigue; though a moment ago he'd felt overwhelming panic; now the weight of steel in his palm, that familiar rough handle, the smooth curve of the trigger- washed it all away. He stared down the sights and fired. A guard hollered and dropped. This was enough to send the others scattering for cover, buy them at least another few seconds. Reno ducked as more fire came their way, but he could see it all so clearly: the military routines of their motions- their cover, their attack, their formation.

"Rude, you still with me?" He asked, not able to take his eyes off the lobby. "Rude?"

"Stay focused. Reno." It was barely a whisper.

"Dammit. How bad is it?"

"Just stay focused."

He took a breath. And then he got his shot. One guard leaned just a little too far past the pillar he was hiding behind. Reno got his foot, then, as he fell out and exposed himself, again in the chest. This caused the panic he desired, the men moved to take him down, reckless, enraged, two more shots, two more men gone. Reno ducked back.

"Only two left, but there will be more on the way. This place is huge, Rude, you have no idea, I had no idea. You'd never know it from the outside eh? That a place like this could exist in Midgar. You know, I think it goes all the way to the top, to the plate. They must have an entrance up there too."

"Who are these people?" Rude groaned out.

"What, they never said in their ransom videos?"

"No. Just demands."

"What were their demands? Clearly worth more than my life."

"Reno..."

"Just kidding partner, now here we go." He looked over the desk again. They had been waiting and the moment his head appeared they fired. He ducked down again but a bullet hit a coffee mug and the shards exploded. He collapsed back grasping his face.

"Reno!"

"Shit. They got my eye." he kept a hand tight against his right eye, and picked up the gun with his left. The men knew they had hit him, and he just fired in time as one rounded the edge of the desk. Rude was trying to move, but he couldn't. Reno could see the dark stains on the guard's uniform on his back. There seemed to be two major sources of blood.

"Damn Rude, they got us in a bad spot."

"Grab his gun." Reno looked to the body of the soldier he'd just killed and pulled the weapon away. He slid it over to Rude.

"I promised you I'd keep shooting. I promised you I'd get us out."

"It's okay partner. You can make up for it." Reno turned from where he'd been watching and relaxed his gun. Rude heard the ding of the elevator and then a stampede of boots. Reinforcements had arrived. Reno set his gun on the floor. "Shoot us both, now, Rude. Don't let them take us."

"Reno."

"I'm serious, Rude. Kill me, or I'm going to do it myself."

"You idiot." With a mighty grunt Rude pulled himself off the floor. He fell back against the counter with a cry. "You fucking idiot, get over here."

He grabbed Reno's arm and pulled him next to him. "Get ready."

"For what?"

"For me to save your ass."

Rude pulled the hammer back and pushed himself up just above the edge of the counter.

He fired three time. And in in those three second, chaos erupted.

Somehow the whole lobby seemed to be on fires, rumbling with explosions. Any glass left was shattering, and Rude was running. Reno wasn't quite sure how his partner was still moving, and dragging him along at that, but he was, because he'd promised. Reno just got glimpses of people. Most of the civilian-type were gone, already evacuated when the shootout began. But guards were rolling on the floor, tyring to put out the fires on their backs. Or they were searching around as if blinded or just lay stunned. And in the chaos, two Turks fled for their lives.

They hit open air. The humid scent of trapped fumes and refuse hit them, they were in one of the most impoverished parts of the slums. Reno slipped in mud, and began to fall. Rude tried to keep him up but he was in even worse shape now and they both went down. But they weren't our of danger, they needed to keep moving.

"Shit Rude..." Reno breathed, unable to rise again. He knew they would be coming. "How did you do that back there?"

Rude groaned, realizing he wasn't getting up again either. "Fire extinguisher. Gas line in the coffee lounge and the guard about to throw a flash grenade at us. You see people's weaknesses and use them to your advantage-"

"And you always see your surroundings and use them to your advantage. Made us the perfect team."

"It did."

"Thanks for coming to get me, partner." Reno was sitting facing the entrance. The guards were coming out now, saw them in the mud. He still had one hand clamped over his eye, he placed his other on Rude's shoulder. "You ready?"

"Yeah."

Reno reached for the gun, hoping they would all open fire at once, that maybe he and Rude wouldn't even feel it. But nothing happened. He remained their stunned for a second, gun raised at the enemy, completely surrounded. Now he didn't know what to do. He hadn't expected to get the opportunity to fire.

"Nice effort." Came a voice that set every muscle in Reno's body rigid. The soldiers parted to let a man into their midst. As soon as he was clear, Reno fired. Nothing happened.

"Should have been counting your shots, Reno, we were." Reno threw the gun down, his whole body shaking now. Rude watched his partner's eyes change from fearless to terrified.

Every step the man took toward them seemed to send an electric shock through Reno's body. Rude took in those near-black eyes and recognized the man at once from the tapes. Charles Cole. When he was directly before them, he pulled back the sleeve of his charcoal grey suit and looked at the face of the heavy gold watch around his wrist. "You're late for our session, Reno. You'll have to make up for that."

He looked to Rude now. "Hmm, and you've brought a friend. I wonder if Shinra cares about him more than they do you. How long have they abandoned you, now? Four weeks, four very longs weeks you've been in our company? And now I have two. There is so much more you can do with two, you know, so many more games to play."

Something snapped in Reno. He grabbed the gun again and lunged, trying to batter the man's face in. But he was wild and weak- acting without clear thought, and not enough power to achieve any damage. Cole knocked him back to the mud and stomped down on his chest, pinning Reno and making it hard for him to breath.

"Hmm, still haven't quite gotten rid of that defiance in you, have we, Reno? Maybe I don't want a new Turk after all. Maybe I want to teach you a lesson right now." He pulled a gun from his jacket and aimed at Rude. Reno watched the cruel glint in his eye and he fired.

Reno couldn't get enough air to scream, couldn't even breath as he watch Rude's body jolt at the impact of the bullet, watched his eyes flare wide with pain and then begin to shut. He felt as if his own body had been hit, he felt cold all over.

"There it is. There is the defeat I've been waiting for."

Tears flowed out unashamed. Reno continued to stare at Rude's body.

The boot lifted, Reno took in more air. "Come on Reno. Back inside."

A couple of the guards grabbed his arms and hauled him up between them. They took his weight completely, dragging him forward. Reno stared back at Rude. His whole chest clenched in a terrible pain. And then his eyes landed on Cole's back.

From deep in his core, a cry worked its way out of his body. It was ancient—a sound buried deep, born from generations of human suffering, a noise universal in the human species. It was a sound from the soul and it ripped out of tortured lungs just as Reno ripped out of his captors' grasps.

Momentum carried him and Cole over. They landed in a heap in the mud. Reno straddled Cole, his hands locking around his throat.

"YOU BASTARD! I'll kill you! I'll KILL you! He slammed his head deeper into the mud. He screamed every curse he ever knew. Until the man beneath him used his superior weight and strength to reverse their positions. Reno was flipped off and now it was him in the mud. Cole's eyes were wide with a menace Reno had not yet seen. It was the first time the man had ever even had a hair out of place that Reno had seen. Now, drenched in the filth of the slums, he sat astride Reno's frail frame and clenched down on his throat. Reno thrashed beneath, no less wild himself.

"You're a beast, Reno. One I tried to tame but can't. I may never get what I want from Shinra but I will get what I want from you. No one defies me. NO ONE! I will break you into dust. But I will never kill you! Not until you are broken! Do you hear me! How many Turks will I have to kill before you submit?"

Reno had stopped struggling. The pressure on this throat had become too much and he was starting to fade.

"I hate you, Reno. I hate you more than any other being I have ever met."

Reno stared up at those eyes. Those eyes who had watched him every moment of torture. Those eyes who had stared at him as he killed his best friend.

And now those looked down upon him and reflected back the one primitive emotion that ever escaped him. That anger so deep it verged on insanity. But his gaze was matched evenly by the man beneath him.

For a moment the two men were locked in their stare-down, locked in the heat of hatred. The guards around them stood unsure of what to do, disturbed by their boss's raw display of emotion. Then Cole pulled away from him. His hands relaxed from Reno's throat, he smoothed down his collar and rose.

"Take him upstairs. Get him out of that uniform and ready for the next session. He killed your brothers today, I think we ought to think of something special."

Cole started back for the building. The others looked down at Reno but Cole's words did not seem to have effected them as much as he'd wished. Yes, Reno had killed some of their men, but he had shown a display of human strength none of them had before witnessed. On the level of warriors, they had to respect him.

But orders were orders and after the pause a pair stepped forward to pick him up.

"Come on kid, back we-" the guard sputtered and collapsed. The other did too. And then men started dropping everywhere.

"SNIPERS!" People were scattering. Reno heard Cole shouting. Then tires screeching, screaming. He pushed himself up out of the mud and sat staring at the chaos. A red dot washed over him and settled on his chest for a moment, then pulled away and nailed another guard.

"Shinra." Reno breathed, but the word choked when he saw his partner's body. If only they'd been a few minutes sooner. His shoulders were shaking. He should be trying to run but he had nothing left.

"Reno." He didn't move at the first call, but the second was more shrill and more desperate. "RENO!" Elena slid in the mud next to him until her arm was around him.

"Reno." She breathed his name in his ear, so edged with relief. But he was still looking at Rude. She'd run right past him, he was dressed as one of the soldiers after all, just another body in the mud.

"Reno." She pulled back and looked at him, saw the tears streaking down his face. She turned and followed his gaze. "Reno..."

"He killed Rude."

* * *

_**Well here is my newest Reno fic, as I said in my last, I clearly seem to be hinged on delving into the pyschology of Reno, however in this one, I really tried to focus on his resiliance and intelligence and that of the Turks. Hope you like, it is pretty dark I will warn you.**_

_**Thanks for reading. I would love to read your reviews :)**_

_**Riza**_


	2. Chapter 2

"He's crashing again!" Monitors beeped, more people entered the room. Someone tore away the rest of the patient's jacket and dropped it to the floor.

"I thought he was a Turk, what uniform is this?"

"He _is_ a Turk," the chief surgeon barked, "and he's just been through Hell so we're not going to let him go now"

"Yes ma'am." the attendant threw the coat in the corner. A nurse rubbed gelatin over the patient's chest and someone else raised two paddles, the hum of electricity growing.

"CLEAR!"

The patient jolted on the table.

"Nothing."

"Administer the epinephrine."

"Yes ma'am."

"Charging...clear!"

Another jolt. The monitors remained the same.

"Charging!"

"Ma'am, don't you think-"

"Just one more try. Come on you bald bastard, CLEAR!"

* * *

"Rude pulled through." The doctor announced.

Elena exhaled and gripped the Director's arm. He shifted off balance and she ended up catching him.

"Sorry sir, I was just so worried."

He straightened and moved back to his chair where he was a little more stable, "I know. So what is the prognosis?"

"Serious. The first two shots were in his back, one on either side of his spine. The last was directly through his chest. It pierced one lung and lodged very near his spine."

"Oh no-"

"Don't go there. The chances of paralysis are very slim as long as we keep him under."

"What do you mean?"

"His spine was not directly hit, it was the tissue and nerves surrounding it that were damaged. We have repaired everything to the best of our abilities, but he simply cannot move until the tissue stitches back together naturally. We have him in a medically induced coma."

"For how long?"

"We'll have to wait and see, but even if we could wake him up, he won't be mobile for a few weeks. Honestly, I believe keeping him in the coma for a prolonged period will be the most comfortable for Rude and give him the best chances of a full recovery. Honestly, we couldn't wish for better results than these. He was clinically dead when we got there."

"Thank you, Nora." Elena breathed.

"You kidding," The doctor swept her long dark hair back over her shoulder and flashed Elena a tired smile, "I was _not_ going to let him die. You know how long it took him to ask me out on a date?" Elena laughed and hugged her.

"Thank you Dr. Jones." Tseng shook her hand and she returned to her comatose boyfriend. Tseng turned back to Elena. "Well, there you have it. Two miracles in one day."

"Yeah. We better go tell Reno the news."

"Elena. Just let me talk to him, okay? It's been a month. We haven't yet assessed his mental state."

"What do you mean?"

"Just let me do the talking. I want to keep things as calm as possible for him."

"Yes sir."

* * *

"Talk to him? You have to be kidding me. He's still in surgery."

"Surgery?" Elena exclaimed. Reno had passed out on the way back home. Rufus had met them and followed after Reno and they'd stuck with Rude.

"He had shrapnel lodged in one eye." The attending nurse explained. "If he ever wants to see from that side again, he needed immediate surgery."

Elena covered her mouth. The nurse returned inside the operating room. Tseng looked around until he spotted who he was looking for.

"Sir."

"Tseng, you really shouldn't be standing on that leg."

"I'll be fine." He moved next to Rufus and stared through the glass into the operating room. "How long have they been at it?"

"An hour or so. He had some other wounds they were examining at first. It was difficult to tell what was worst. What is the news on Rude?"

"He's going to make it. Long recovery."

Rufus just nodded. "Well then, keep me updated. And take care of that leg."

"Yes sir." Rufus strode away down the hall. Elena took his spot at the window.

"I think he was actually worried about Reno."

"The President may not show his affections, but it does not mean he does not have them."

"Yes sir."

* * *

**Four weeks earlier.**

"It's a set-up." Tseng breathed, when he pushed open the door of the warehouse. Reno pulled his gun and turned just in time. He felt the bullet hit just inches from him, but he stood calmly and fired. There must have been a sniper though, because a shot seemed to come out of no where and Tseng hit the floor.

"Boss!" Reno heard Rude cry but he knew his partner would take care of Tseng.

"Get him back, Rude." Reno ordered, he was now in charge. He couldn't see where Tseng had been hit but it looked bad. "Elena, you and I will give them cover."

"Reno, we're pinned down." She hissed back. "The only place to go is in that warehouse and who knows what is waiting in there?"

"Shit." He swore, "then where the Hell is that sniper?" they crouched behind the door. Rude held onto to Tseng and covered their backs. Elena was right, there had to be an ambush inside. But outside was certain death unless they got that sniper.

"How is Tseng?"

"Bad, they got his leg."

"Is he conscious?"

"No."

"Sh-"

Splinters flew everywhere as a bullet blew threw the door. Elena screamed and collapsed next to him. Reno didn't turn to help though, it was his only chance: he traced the line of sight back and caught the slightest movement in a distant building. He fired. Far away a body fell off it's perch several stories up.

"It's clear, let's go." He grabbed Elena, unable to be gentle. She was still conscious and ran as well as she could next to him. Rude was carrying Tseng. The car was close.

"Okay, get in." Reno threw the door open wide and started to push Elena inside.

"Reno." Rude heard it first. It started off slow but built rapidly: a high-pitched beeping, just barely audible. At once he started pulling Elena back out.

"Run!"

The explosion of the car sent them flat. Reno rolled onto Elena to cover her from the shrapnel. Something hit his leg. It burned deep, he pulled it out without even looking and hauled Elena up. The world was spinning. He felt the hot rush of blood on his forehead and coming from his ears. They'd been close to the blast- the shock wave of it still felt like it was reverberating through his skull and the world seemed oddly silent. He scanned around for Rude and Tseng but didn't see them.

Then he caught the glimpse of movement from the warehouse and he was moving. Elena was barely conscious now, she was covered in blood, all coming from her arm. The bullet hole was huge, it must have shattered her bone as well. But she kept moving despite the agony it must have been causing.

He felt, more than heard, the gun fire erupting. Bullets bounced off the broken pavement all around them and it occurred to Reno that the shooters were aiming low, trying to catch their legs. And this made him speed up even more. They were not shooting to kill, they were trying to capture. And a captured Turk only ever meant one thing.

"Come on, Elena." he pulled them inside the first building he found. Slum apartments, but they seemed to be abandoned. They made it up a few stories before she began to collapse. He pulled her into a bedroom and eased her onto the mattress on the floor. He pulled his jacket off and tied it tightly around her arm. He realized just how much blood she had lost. Her lips were deathly pale and her head lolled to the side. Reno glanced around the room. They'd already left too much evidence of their presence here. He picked her up and held her in his arms. He kneed past the door and continued up the stairs a few more flights. He ran down the hall until he found an open door and pushed inside. In a quick sweep of the room, he spotted what he was looking for.

"I'm sorry Elena, but this is our best chance." He lay her in the corner of the room next to a pile of blankets. "Don't move or make a sound until you know it's clear. Then call HQ for help." He began layering the blankets over her.

"Reno don't..."

"I have to try to draw them away, it's our only shot."

"Then you run and don't stop."

"Of course. They won't catch me, I promise." he winked at her and covered her face. And then he was running. He had to move before they found his location.

He started to run back down the stairs. He was on the other side of the building now but they'd expected that so he was forced to run back into one of the floors when he heard them thundering up the stairs below him.

"There he is!" he heard a voice and ran straight into the next room. He could hear them behind him, there was little choice, he saw the window, covered his face, and jumped.

Glass rained down around him and he struck the ground hard. He must have been up four or five flights. For a moment Reno wasn't sure he could get up, but when he heard shouting again, he found his strength and pushed himself up. Sharp pain ran through his chest, he must have cracked a few ribs and his knee screamed at him, but he ran. Even like this, he was faster than most.

He had gone several blocks before he ducked behind a dumpster to catch his breath and strategize. It was strange, he hadn't seen another soul, it was like this whole district was abandoned.

"Who are these guys?" he asked himself as he reached for his mobile. The screen was cracked from his fall but the buttons still lit up and he punched in Rude's number.

"Come on, buddy, be alive." He got no answer. "Shit." He punched in Shinra. Someone answered immediately.

"Reno."

"Rufus?"

"Rude just called for extraction. Where are you?"

"Three blocks south of the meeting place, but Elena is back in an apartment building thirty feet from the site. She was too hurt to keep moving, I'm trying to draw them off her position."

"Rude went the opposite way. He thinks they're clear, they must have followed you."

"Good."

"Reno, keep moving south, I'm sending SOLDIER now."

"Thanks, boss."

He stood up and groaned in pain.

"You're hurt."

"Fell out of a building, I'll be fine"

"Move, now Reno, you need to keep the distance between you and these people."

Reno obeyed, keeping his cell up to one ear as he moved. "Who are they?"

"We don't know, but from what Rude described they are smart and well equipped. Do not get caught."

"I won't"

"Good, stay on the line and don't stop running."

Reno didn't turn off his phone but he shoved it in his pocket so he was more mobile. He vaulted over a fence and felt his knee give. He hit the ground, heaving, but got back up and kept going. Ahead he could hear people, the busy busting underground world he was used to, not this strange abandoned section void of life. If he could get there, he could blend into the crowds, disappear.

He dashed into a side alley for more cover. It was very narrow. He heard shouting behind and decided to scale the wall. Planting one foot on each brick wall, he shimmied up rather easily and slid in the first window. This building had been lived in more recently, the smell of human excrement and spoilt food was strong. Man, these people had it rough.

He heard the startled cry when the ally was found empty. They were closer to him than he thought.

"How's that exit looking?" Reno asked when he put the phone back to his ear. He found a ladder to another floor and moved up.

"Reinforcements are on the ground near central Midgar. Your cell signal is weak, but it looks like you're about a mile away from them. Can you make it?"

"I'm in a building. They're outside the alley. If I get to the roof I can probably hop buildings until I find a clear street."

"Go."

He didn't need Rufus to tell him. He could hear them inside the building now. It was so run-down- stairs were rotted away and some places only had ladders. He felt his ribs groaning inside him as he clambered higher and higher but he couldn't stop. His white shirt was soaked through with sweat and streaked crimson from Elena's blood. He prayed no one had stayed behind in that building to search for her. At least Shinra knew where to find her now.

He came to a boarded up door and threw his shoulder into it. He ended up on the floor, the boards were thicker than he'd thought. He rubbed his shoulder and stood again but a fit of coughing stopped him. He leaned against the wall gagging, tasting the copper in the back of his throat.

"What's wrong, Reno?" He heard the voice in his pocket but he couldn't answer right away. He needed a way out of here. He pulled out his gun and once the coughing fit passed, he moved back down a level, careful not to make much noise.

"Reno!"

"Shh," he whispered to his pocket, hoping the president could hear. It seemed he did, and Reno was lucky. He could hear the quick breaths of someone just around the corner, someone taking each step with care just in case Reno was doing exactly what he was doing right now.

The first one rounded the corner. They were so close their blood sprayed back in his face when Reno fired. He recoiled from the mess but there was another right behind. This one got a shot off but Reno was still quicker. He knocked the man's gun away and shot him point blank. He had no time for mercy.

The others would hear the gunfire, he had to get out and he found himself running straight at another window. This time, however, there was a much easier place to land. The roof of the next building was nearly on level with this floor. He threw the window open and launched himself onto the ledge. He only stumbled slightly and then he was running.

"Rufus," He panted into the phone when he pulled it back up to his ear. "I'm on the roof tops. It looks like I'm clear for at least a dozen. That should give me a good lead."

"Okay. SOLDIER is closing in on your position."

"Good." Reno sailed over another gap with ease. He thanked whoever had made these buildings because it was as if they were for him. He jumped another one and another. He was at least eight buildings down now and he couldn't even see the people chasing.

"Rufus, how close are the-"

He had been moving so fast, he jumped over the next gap, and it wasn't until he was in the air that he saw the figure move out from behind a chimney.

They had gotten ahead of him, they were waiting.

He saw only one man. He had a night stick and he just waited for Reno to get in range. The impact was brutally harsh. The man swung hard to meet Reno's momentum. He couldn't do much, he tried to grab the stick, soften the impact, but it did no good. The stick slammed past his fingers, breaking his thumb, and drove into his stomach. The pain was so unreal and all he saw was black. He slammed onto his back and couldn't breath. Somewhere distant he could here Rufus's voice. He felt the presence above him, but he could not move. When he could finally breath again his body lurched and the air seemed to have to fight it's way in and past the blood he was trying to cough out. Between his ribs and his stomach he could neither cough what needed to get out or breath what needed to come in. He thought he was going to die.

"Geeze, what did you do to him?" Reno tried to take in who was there, but the blackness on the edge of his vision kept creeping in further. "I think you killed him, and he was the last one."

"Well do something then."

The other guy grunted and Reno felt himself rolled to one side. Some of the blood that had pooled at the back of his throat spilled out, an alarming amount it seemed because the man bracing his body swore. Reno heard more feet on the roof. He was getting more and more outnumbered but the pain wasn't going away and his breathing was getting worse.

"What's the situation?" This voice was firm, commanding. Reno couldn't see the speaker but he was clearly the leader.

"Adler got him, but maybe a little too good." Someone answered.

"Roll him over." Reno was rolled to his back again. He still could barely see but a face loomed over him.

"You've collapsed his lung." The speaker looked Reno over. "This is the second in command of the Turks." There was a slight reaction to this; Reno heard someone mutter he was too young. "He'll be valuable if he survives. Get the doc up here right now."

Someone braced his head back to try to open up his air way a little more and he felt other hands pull his shirt open. They were going to save him just so they could torture him. He knew the drill, even if these people were a mystery themselves. Surely Rufus must have heard what happened, surely SOLDIER were nearly here by now.

"Hold him down," a new voice spoke, Reno glimpsed a figure with a bag kneel next to him. Something cold ran across his chest, hands tightened around his shoulders and hips and the doctor pressed down firmly on his chest. "1-2-3-"

Reno's whole body went rigid in the men's grasp— he'd just been stabbed. Whatever it was drove deep down inside him. Why had they brought a doctor just to kill him? He wondered before a sudden rush of oxygen hit him and a painful yet relieving sensation spread through his chest. A scream finally escaped him but then he just let his body go limp and concentrated on breathing.

"Don't move him yet, I need to stabilize the shunt but his lung re-inflated. He should be fine until I can get him to the facility."

The doctor began wrapping around the shunt in his chest. Finally Reno could see a bit more clearly. He was ringed by men in black combat uniforms. Above him was the doctor and hovering over him was a man in a sharp clean, charcoal grey suit. His hair was perfectly coiffed, a neat and closely kept beard adorned his face. He could give Rufus Shinra a run for him money in terms of style, but he had a hard edge to him, military-like. He was not some prince- this man had fought his way through blood and bone to get to the top. His eyes were hard, a deep grey, cold. A long scar ran through one cheek. He watched Reno like a predator his prey. Reno was afraid.

"Incoming!" The rooftop shook. Red flakes of brick and chunks of mortar flew everywhere. Something big had struck them.

"Shinra." Reno whispered out in desperate hope. Another strike, the chimney was shattered. SOLDIER. They were trying to clear their way in with heavy artillery. Gone were the days of the swordsmen who could have swept this roof clear in mere seconds with their deadly blades.

Gunfire erupted in every direction. The doctor flattened beside him. The men around them were crouching, running, ducking for cover. SOLDIER had the roof ahead of them, and these people had the one behind. And here, in the centre of it all, Reno lay in no man's land, unable to stand in case he got caught in the crossfire.

But he only had these seconds before someone remembered him, before the bossman grabbed him or the doctor dragged him away. He looked at the thing protruding from his chest. He couldn't jostle that. It seemed secure but if he hit that, he was sure he'd be dead. He rolled onto his side and dug his feet into the ground and pushed forward. He was half crawling, half dragging himself but it was as high as he dared go with bullets flying everywhere. He knew his destination. There was a stairwell entrance, where the men had come from. If he could get there, he'd be safe from the gunfire and he could get down to street level where SOLDIER must have had cover. In his journey his hand struck something and he realized it was his phone but in this position he couldn't hold it to his ear so he just grabbed it and kept going.

It seemed to take forever, but eventually he got to the door and drug himself into the landing.

"Good, saves me going out there to get you."

Reno stared up at the man above him. It was the same one who had struck him with the nightstick—Alder, the other man had called him. He grabbed Reno's collar and hauled him the rest of the way in and then he pointed his gun out the door. It was only a few seconds before the first SOLDIER appeared.

Reno took his opportunity. Alder fired. He couldn't see the soldier anymore, but the man above him was not looking his way so he raised his foot and kicked out at the back of his knee. Alder's second shot went wild and then he jolted back onto the floor, grasping his shoulder.

"Dammit!" He cried and saw Reno struggling to his feet. "You little asshole." Reno looked back to the roof. The SOLDIER was down, even his enhancements couldn't predict all those bullets. So Reno ran. He just barely escaped the reach of the enraged man on the floor and stumbled down the steps. He was in so much pain, it must have been a rib that punctured his lung and for all he knew he would kill himself by moving like this but he wasn't going to wait and see who won upstairs. He collapsed to his knees on a landing. He took a second to breath and pulled his phone out.

"Ru..fus.."

"RENO!" He shut his eyes in relief at hearing the President's voice. He didn't feel quite so alone in all of this knowing Rufus was at the other end of the phone. "Are you with SOLDIER?"

"Almost. Just gotta get down stairs." He pulled himself up again but his body was less willing to move. He leaned against the railing and let his shoulder slide against the wall while his feet propelled his body forward. "They want to take me away, Rufus. To a facility or something. They know who I am."

"Just get yourself out of there, Reno."

"So hard to breath.."

"RENO snap out of it. Keep moving."

He nodded, even though Rufus couldn't see him nod.

"Faster." his boss commanded as if he could see him. He must have been able to hear the slow stomp of his feet. He picked up his pace again, reminding himself what awaited if he got caught.

"Okay, I'm going."

"Not good enough, move, Turk."

"Yes sir." Reno was just about jogging now. But he was only managing to get air about every second breath. Each step became a little more precarious, he was starting to lose his balance. But then he saw the exit.

"Nearly there."

The sound of the shot shocked him more than the pain at first. His phone cracked against the rough boarded floor and he fell back against the wall. He looked down at his arm. It was clean though on the outside of his bicep, pretty minor on a normal day for a Turk, but with all his other injuries it was the straw to break the camel's back. He collapsed, blood coursing down his arm, his vision spotting. The man in the charcoal suit took each step calmly, watching Reno trembling in utter exhaustion and pain. He bent and picked up the phone.

"Mr. Shinra."

"Who is this?"

"I have your Turk."

Reno could hear Rufus speaking but Charcoal lowered the mobile and looked at Reno.

"I saved your life up there. Now, it is mine." His hand closed over his ankle and he began walking down the stairs. Reno braced himself and couldn't help cry out as his back scrapped over the steps and his head hit each one on the way down. When they were at the bottom and he was blinking back tears to try and see, the hand clamped around his bullet wound. He understood, it was all for Rufus's benefit. He tried to hold back but cruel hands wouldn't let up until he cried out. His breathing was becoming ragged now, desperate. He was beat to hell, things were starting to shut down. But if he lost consciousness, who knew where he would wake up. Charcoal got one more scream out of him before raising the phone again.

"I'll be in touch."

He snapped the phone shut and dropped it on the ground. The door to the outside opened again, someone was helping the doctor in, it seemed he hadn't gotten off the roof unscathed.

"Put him to sleep." The boss ordered. "And make sure he survives the trip home. He's picked up a couple of new injuries." Charcoal turned and left. A needle slid under Reno's skin and as much as he fought it, the darkness came. They had him.

* * *

**_Wow, thanks for the positive response to this story! I've been hanging on to it for a while along with one of my Bleach stories because I thought both of them were pretty dark but you have to take risks as an author so why not give it a try on ? Anyway, I am pretty satisfied with this story and it is without a doubt my favourite of the three FFVII fics I have posted so I hope it does the trick for you too! I hope this chapter wasn't too confusing at the beginning where you find out Rude is still alive, Nora is an OC of mine, Rude's girlfriend, a random inspiration but I love her so I hope you will too as she appears throughout this fic._**

**_Thank you SOOO MUCH for reading and reviewing,_**

**_Sincerely, _**

**_Riza. A. Winters_**


	3. Chapter 3

**Present day.**

Elena struggled out of sleep, her buzzer working its way across her nightstand. She grabbed it before it hit the ground and read the message.

"Oh Gaia!' She threw back her covers and grabbed her clothes.

People couldn't get out of her way fast enough as she ran through the halls of Shinra toward the medical wing.

"Move." She shoved past another employee and pushed through the heavy glass doors of the visitors' entrance. She knew where she was going and headed directly to Reno's room.

"I thought you said he was awake." She demanded of the doctor when she found him still asleep.

"He will be," Dr. Smith responded evenly. He was used to dealing with Elena's hysterics over the years. "in a matter of minutes. We can tell by the change in his brainwave patterns. I thought you would like to be here, though."

"Did you call the Director?"

"Not yet."

"Let him sleep. He hasn't been getting much of that lately."

"My thoughts exactly."

"What should I say, when he wakes up?"

"Tell him where he is, make sure he knows he's safe."

"And his eye? What do I say about that?"

"I'll explain. Here, I think he's coming around."

Elena moved to the bed. It was down low enough that she could sit next to him. She took his hand in hers and waited. The doctor moved behind her.

Green eyes opened, returning from far away. She had been afraid he would jolt away, forget where he was, be afraid. But he just looked exhausted, and it seemed he had no energy for fear. He just quietly took her in and let the sluggish memories come back to him.

"You're at Shinra, Reno, you're safe." He blinked up at her, drowsiness threatening to take him back under, but he noticed he wasn't seeing right, he raised a hand to his face. Elena grabbed it before he could touch.

"Don't."

He lowered his hand and pulled his breathing mask away. "Why..." his voice was so weak, but part of that was from the damage to his windpipe, courtesy of Cole.

"It's alright Reno." The doctor explained. "We had to operate to remove shrapnel that struck you in the face. Now, your eye was not hit directly, but a long piece of porcelain was embedded in your eye socket and cut the edge of your eye as well as striking your optical nerve. It was not severed, but damaged. The only way to ensure recovery, is to keep it protected from all light for at least two more days."

"Just two?"

"You've been unconscious for four days, Reno. But don't worry, you're getting the best care Shinra has to offer. Just rest, up."

"But Rude...Elena, is there a service-"

"Rude's alive."

"What?"

"He is, Reno, they saved him."

He gripped her hand and narrowed his eye, "You're telling the truth?"

"Reno of course, why would I lie?"

He shut his eyes and shook his head. "Sorry. Take me to him."

He reached to pull the mask off his head but she stopped him.

"Reno, he's asleep, and you need to rest too."

He shook his head. "I'll rest after, please, I just need to see him for myself."

She glanced at the doctor.

"It's not good for him. The less he moves the better. However, Rude is only a few doors down."

"Take me."

Elena nodded to the doctor. He got a wheel chair and as gently as they could, they pulled off monitors and helped him into the chair. Reno looked like he might pass out after the move and began coughing and wheezing.

"He has pneumonia." Dr. Smith explained, putting a steadying hand on Reno's shoulder and pulling the IV cart closer. "Let's make this quick."

They wheeled him down to Rude's room. It looked bad, and it was, but Reno had thought his partner was dead. He made a strained noise and before they could stop him he lurched forward and leaned on the bed rails so he was looking down on his partner.

"He can't be moved." The doctor warned, grabbing hold of Reno's shoulder's in case he fell forward onto Rude. "But he has a strong chance of a full recovery."

"Good." Reno slid off the rail and the doctor caught him, lowering him back into the chair. His eye was shut.

"Is he unconscious?" Elena asked alarmed.

"He just needs to rest. Let's get him back."

* * *

Tseng was there by the time they got Reno settled again. The doctor had given them little information until this point, many tests needed to be run and the two remaining Turks of their team, not in peak condition themselves, had been run off their feet trying to investigate the mysterious organization; do reconnaissance on their building, figure out their next move. But now was the time to sit down and discuss their biggest source of intelligence.

"I want to know everything." Tseng said, sitting down. Elena sat too and the doctor pulled over a chair to face them.

"So would I. If I knew what they'd been doing to him the last four weeks, I could help him more."

"You've been shown the videos."

"Yes. But they do not account for half the scars on his body. He was tortured far beyond what we ever saw."

They had suspected, but it was still hard to hear.

Elena broke the silence, if only so she didn't have to dwell on that thought. "You said he has pneumonia."

"Yes. A rib puncture his lung, from what the president told us of his phone call and what SOLDIER observed on the roof, this most likely happened the day they captured him. They had to operate on him. Now, I know this is not my job, but I would say that the skills evidenced by what I have seen on his x-rays and the surgical scars are equal to any of the doctors here, as well as the equipment used to do it. Whoever did this was highly trained and in a professional facility."

"That does help." Tseng answered quietly.

The doctor nodded. "He most likely developed pneumonia shortly after, it is a very common side effect and the conditions he must have been in would not have helped. He may never have gotten over it or it has reoccurred, but it is fairly serious. He will have to remain on bed rest and antibiotics for quite some time.

"As for exposure to other germs and bacteria, it is impossible to tell, but assuming he has been in unhygienic conditions for a prolonged period of time, I have been flooding his system with stronger antibiotics, beyond those for the pneumonia, to try to flush out anything else he might have. That is part of the reason he's been asleep so long, it is very tiring on the system. I will be tapering that off in the next twenty-four hours, after which he should be less tired.

"My next priority is his nutrition. As you can probably see, his weight is dangerously low, and his blood work shows several deficiencies. I gave him a transfusion as well, he's suffered significant blood loss, though not all at once. For now we are keeping him fed intravenously while he's sleeping. But I am worried he will have a lack of appetite when he wakes up so it will be important to make him eat as much as he can."

"What about his injuries?"

"Honestly, Director, I don't know where to start. I've told you about his eye. His ribs still need to heal. His fingers are a bit concerning, some of them have been broken several times, he may need to retrain them. Beyond that, I simply have to refer to my list."

Tseng looked to Elena and then back to the doctor. "Like you have already observed, Reno's injuries and their treatment can give us clues. I would like you to go through an examination of his body with me."

"You're going to use him like a piece of evidence?" Elena exclaimed.

"We're Turks, Elena, we do what we must. Reno is sleeping, it will make no difference to him and it could tell us much. You don't need to stay. In fact, perhaps it would be best if you left."

"Sir I-"

"For his privacy."

"Yes sir."

* * *

Tseng shut the door to his office and went to his side table. The bottle of brandy had sat untouched since it had been given to him, but now he cracked it open and poured a glass. The door opened softly.

"That bad, huh? Then you better pour me a glass." Tseng set his glass down and prepared a second for Rufus. "Alright, fill me in."

Tseng gave Rufus as concise a report as possible. And then they discussed the mystery organization.

"We barely got out of there alive. Now we are down two members. I have men watching them twenty-four hours a day, but we are not ready to make a move. We simply need to know more and the only two people we know that have been inside there, are unconscious." Tseng concluded.

"Does the doctor think Reno will be able to give us much detail? What will his mental state be?"

"Experience says not very good. But it is Reno. He may surprise us."

"Well he must have helped Rude get out of that building."

"Yes, I agree. He had to be lucid, and he had to be calm."

"Good. Then keep up the intelligence on that building and let me know as soon as you have more information." Rufus finished his glass and set it on the table. "And Tseng, you look terrible. Get some sleep."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

"Where is he?" Tseng stared at the empty bed, tubes pulled out, monitors beeping. By the doctor's reaction, he knew Reno was not supposed to be gone. "He must have woken up, forgotten where he was and-"

"Don't be so dramatic." A strained voice came from a the half open door to the bathroom. Both men hurried over. Reno was slouched over the toilet bowl. He'd been sick. "I'm not mental, Tseng."

His stomach lurched and his fingers went white around the edge. Dr. Smith knelt next to him. Both men were frankly surprised. Reno had not come around again after seeing Rude for another two days, and after that he was still so exhausted he was only ever awake for brief periods of time and not terribly coherent. The most coherence they'd seen was his relief when the bandage was removed from his eye and he discovered he still had his vision. Now, nine days after his rescue, he was as clear-headed as they'd seen him, though clearly he was not well. Reno spit bile into the toilet before rolling back and leaning against the tub. The doctor was taking his pulse and feeling his temperature.

"What's wrong?"

"Could be anything. His immune system is so low he could have picked up a bug, or he may simply be having an adverse reaction to the medications."

"Feels like the flu." Reno muttered, sliding his face into his hands and pulling up his knees. He was shaking.

"Fever, chills, nausea. It could be," the doctor said. "I should take some blood, make sure it's nothing worse." He rose, "stay with him."

"Of course." Tseng took the doctor's place at Reno's side, leaning against the tub.

"Have you been watching them?" Reno hadn't looked up, but Tseng knew what he was talking about.

"Yes but we have to know more before we can get close."

"I was telling Rude..." Reno swallowed painfully but he seemed determined to continue and Tseng was just glad he didn't have to ask Reno for the information, "I think that whole building runs from the plate to the slums. But I don't get it, that big lobby we ran through, those glass doors, the security- why would that be on slum level? They were well dressed, well educated, they have to be from the plate, why would they be entering from the slums?"

"Did you ever see the entrance at the plate?"

Reno shook his head, then regretted it. He leaned over the toilet and heaved a little more but there wasn't much left in his stomach. Tseng eased him back against the tub. The doctor came in and gave him something to drink, then began preparing his arm to take blood. Tseng helped steady his arm but Reno didn't even pay attention.

"I never saw the above entrance. I just guessed. I didn't see a whole lot of the building. I was in a lab or a medical room when I first got there. They operated on me and I was out for almost a day. They moved me to a cell, I was unconscious so I didn't see the halls. But they did move me from my cell to...well, the room you saw in the videos..." he couldn't quite say the room where they tortured him. "It was one floor up, it was pretty big, they had the film equipment and...everything else. It was sound proof."

"What was in the halls?"

"They were bright. My cell was always dark, it made it hard to see every time they brought me out. But they were white. Doors, lots of doors, people in business clothes and lab coats. Soldiers. There was a service stairwell near my cell, that's the one Rude and I used, and the soldiers used to transport me. But the other people used a bigger one around a turn, or the elevators. Those hallways were larger, plants, waiting chairs. It was like an office building, but they didn't take me that way. And there was an examining room next to the sound proof one upstairs. I think it was just for me. It was pretty bare."

"Examining room?"

"Sometimes things went a little far." Reno stared down at the white tile. "the doc had to bring me back more than once."

"Bring you back?"

"He restarted my heart, twice. I think I had a few seizures, not really sure."

The doctor bandaged up the spot where he took blood. An attendant had brought him a blanket that he tucked around Reno.

"How are you feeling now?" He asked.

"'Bout the same."

"Reno, did they ever give you drugs?"

Reno nodded.

"Do you know what they were?"

"No."

"Why, what are you thinking?" Tseng asked.

"Nothing is wrong, but I'll review the first blood tests to check for traces of them. It would be good to know what he was given. It would also be good to get some clarification about other things they did to him."

"_Him, _is sitting right here, but we have other things we need to discuss. I got free one day, Tseng. And that was when I realized how big they were."

"What did you see?"

"I ran up. I had woken up in the examining room, the doctor had his back to me and the guard was talking to someone out in the hall. I ran. I shoved the doc, punched the guard and the civilian ran away. I made it to the service stairwell and I ran up. I knew the would expect me to go down. I got tired though, and the stairs seemed never ending. I got off on floor fifty three. It was dark, unfinished. So I thought maybe they only work in the bottom, but there was still elevators. I started going down the hallways but I started to pass out. I found a room and fell inside. I don't know how long I was there. But when I woke up, I was still alone. Tseng, it took them more than eighteen hours to find me. All those people, and it took nearly a day. That's why I think it's so huge. They must have searched every floor for me. I tried to move further up, but they had a way of automatically locking the doors. I was locked in on that floor. There were only small windows there too. But other than that, I think the layout of that floor was identical to the others, I mean the walls and doors. Tseng, that place, it was like an old building they took over, renovated. Only thing is, who would ever have the ability to make something so huge except Shinra?"

Tseng looked at the doctor. "Leave."

Smith knew there was no point arguing and he left the bathroom shutting the door behind him.

"Reno, you think you were in an old Shinra building?"

"What other explanation is there?"

"But who could they be? Who has an organization that big?"

A funny smile touched Reno's mouth. "I had a month to think about it, to look for clues, to confirm suspicions. At first I thought I had the same guard. Then one day there was two of them, then three. They were identical. Not all of the soldiers mind you, there are a few different types, but three, four, maybe as many as a dozen of each."

"What are you saying?"

"Clones Tseng. I don't just think they found an old abandoned Shinra building, I think they found an abandoned _project._ Cloning, maybe even SOLDIER, or maybe something else. I mean, maybe Rufus doesn't even know about it, could be one of his father's projects."

"You really think it was made by Shinra?"

Reno nodded. "I can show you. Where are the videos?"

Tseng blanched. He'd been so caught up in what Reno was telling him, he'd almost forgotten all that had happened to him, but just by mentioning the tapes, horrible images flooded back to Tseng. And now Reno wanted them.

"Why?"

"I said, I can show you."

"Reno-"

"I was there, remember. Seeing it won't make a difference." He said it so detached, Tseng could hardly believe it. They were Turks, yes, but he did not expect this level of calmness from Reno after a whole month of captivity- of worse than captivity.

"You're sick, you need to rest."

"No, this first. Then, while I'm resting, you can be investigating."

The director exhaled. "Fine. But you're not going anywhere, doctor says your immune system might be compromised. Stay here, I'll bring them to you."

Reno nodded. When Tseng left the doctor reentered. He tried to get Reno to go to the bed but he stayed where he was.

"I can give you something to fight the nausea."

Reno shook his head, he was exhausted and rested his forehead on his knees. After a few minutes, Tseng returned with a laptop. The doctor excused himself once more. He didn't bother asking if Reno wanted to move somewhere more comfortable because nothing would make this experience any more comfortable.

"The disks?" Reno asked.

"Copied to the hard drive."

The red head reacted to this. "How many copies are there?"

"Well, we had them analyzed for any clues-"

"Well, who has the disks? Who all has copies of this Tseng? It's fucking personal shit there. Who exactly got to watch these videos?"

"Reno, you know the answer to that. You know that if it had been me taken and not you, who all would have been in that room to see. Who all would have studied it?"

"Rufus. Elena and Rude. Video experts. Doctors. Psychologist. To hear the message. To look for clues. To assess my chances of survival and the chances that I was still sane."

"Yes."

"But it's done now. Can you get rid of them?"

"I will make sure any copies no longer being analyzed are no longer in use."

Reno held his gaze for a moment. "Okay. Play it, any of them."

Tseng scrolled over the folder and opened it. Reno could tell he was being deliberately slow, giving him a few more seconds to change his mind.

"Just play it."

Tseng did. He waited for some reaction but Reno just stared. He stared at himself being drug into the room; at himself being strapped in place. He listened to himself scream, and watched everything that happened. But he was looking for something else, the scenes before him never phasing him.

"There, stop." The camera had been bumped, and the door just became visible for a second. "See."

"It looks like the doors in the interrogation room here." Tseng said.

"It doesn't just look like it, Tseng. It's the same, exact same. And the walls on that side of the room, look at the steal plating, the edge of the glass observation window. It's aligned exactly the same. And it's sound proof. Even the bolts are the same. And it was like that in the level below as well. Whoever designed that room, designed the one here. That's the clue, that's what you chase, Tseng."

"Reno, they are similar, but how can you be sure?"

A dry laugh escaped him. "I had nothing else to look at all those hours in there."

"Reno, eventually we're going to have to discuss what happened in that room."

"Not really, no." Reno said. "I can give you all the intelligence you need without doing that."

"Not for intelligence, Reno. For your health."

"You mean my sanity."

"No, not just that, the doctors can treat you better if they know what happened."

Reno picked up his glass of water and took a long drink. Tseng knew he wasn't going to answer.

He let it go for now.

"Reno, if I got you some paper do you think you could draw a layout of what you know?"

Reno nodded.

"Okay, I will investigate the possibility that this facility was made by Shinra. But Reno, don't discuss this with anyone, okay, not even Elena."

"Yes sir."

"Do you want me to help you back to bed?"

"No."

"Okay." But when Tseng went to close the laptop and take it back Reno grabbed the side of it.

"Leave it."

"Reno-"

"I want to know what you, and everyone else saw. So when I see people, I'll know what they're seeing when they look at me."

"Reno, don't put yourself through this."

"I need to know."

Tseng stared down at him. "If you don't already know what's in those videos, that means they must have made more than what we saw."

"Of course they did. They didn't always get the reaction they wanted out of me."

"How many, then? How many videos did they make?"

Reno met his gaze, and there was a fierceness in it Tseng didn't expect. When he spoke, he spoke with loathing, and the Director couldn't be sure it wasn't directed at himself. "How many days was I gone?"

It was like a cold stab of pain in his gut. Everyday. Reno had gone through that everyday and they had seen just four times. Images they could never erase from their memories. Tseng didn't respond. He looked at Reno's trembling hands clutched around the laptop, his enraged eyes, and turned out the door and left.

* * *

"How long has he been like this?"

"A few hours."

Tseng looked to the monitors next to Reno's bed. He knew enough to understand his condition had gotten much worse. The doctor had called him down.

"I found him passed out in the bathroom, he didn't want to be disturbed while he..." Dr. Smith's eyes landed on the laptop, "anyway, his fever has gotten worse, if it doesn't break soon we'll have to cool his body down ourselves. His immune system is simply too weak to fight it. We're going to have start taking more precautions about his exposure."

"Will his immune system recover?"

"Yes, he just needs time. His body is focusing on healing too much at once right now. And he exhausted himself this afternoon."

"I know. But he helped our investigation alot."

The doctor had no response to this. He knew his place, but as a doctor, he did not condone Reno's continued involvement in Turk business when he needed to heal.

"Dr. Smith." Tseng reached for the laptop. "When Reno watched the video with me, it was as if he wasn't even seeing himself. In fact, his mental state has been surprisingly stable."

"I wish I could assure you he would remain stable, but the fact is, disassociation is a very unhealthy coping strategy. I am afraid it is only a matter of time before we will see the effects."

Tseng sighed and picked up the computer.

"Let me know if his condition deteriorates."

"Yes sir."

* * *

_**Hello again, thanks for all the reviews! I am really encouraged to have to have positive feedback on this one! I'm afraid the action is slowing down a bit for now, but that's so the plot can thicken! Hoping to update again in a few days!**_

_**Riza**_


	4. Chapter 4

The room was dark. Reno sat up slowly. His body felt heavy, his head clouded, but he felt the need to move, to get out of this bed. He pulled the tubes out of his nose, the IV out of his arm and the sticky pad over his heart. Monitors beeped, he was sure someone would be here soon, but he couldn't wait, he just needed to be on his feet. He rolled out of the bed and let his legs slowly take his weight.

His head swam from suddenly being vertical. But it passed. He felt the pain in his body, sharp stabs through his chest, dull throbs in his feet and legs and the laboured wheeze of his breath. But still, he walked across the room to the door. He moved into the hallway, he guessed it must be very early morning, only night staff keeping an eye on the place, but with his training it was easy to slip unnoticed down the hall. It didn't take him long to find the room he wanted.

"Rude." He placed a hand on the glass as he stared in on his partner's room. He didn't go in though, he remembered what the doctor had said about moving him and couldn't trust himself not to stumble and accidentally jostle him. "I know Nora is doing everything she can for you, but I just wish you would wake up."

The longer Reno stood, the more pain he began to feel throughout his stiff body. He still had alot of injuries underneath his white scrubs. He wanted a shower, let the warm, clean water wash away at least some of the soreness. It was one of the things he had dreamt about for so long in that Hell hole. But when he returned to his room, there was a figure waiting in the dark. Reno sighed and flicked on the light.

"Thought you'd be by sooner, Boss." Reno slid onto the bed, sitting on the edge with his back to Rufus who was in the bedside chair.

"I was told you weren't well."

"Yeah well, I've been worse, you know." the words were spat out dryly, the sardonic edge not lost on Rufus.

"Yes." Rufus's voice was quiet. "I know. Reno I-"

"Forget it. So I take it no one else knows."

"Well, I haven't had the visit from Tseng I was expecting."

"I gave him some information that will keep him busy."

"Until?"

"I don't know, you're the boss, you tell me."

Reno heard the tired sigh, heard the creak of the chair and the rustle of well pressed clothes. The bed dipped beside him but he didn't look up. He stared at his own bare feet next to Rufus's shiny black shoes.

"Can't even look at me, huh?"

Reno shook his head. "I can't look at anyone without seeing those _four _videos in their eyes. So what am going to see if I look into _your _eyes?"

"Shame."

"Why? I'm a Turk, obviously you wouldn't give into demands just for me. I knew that, no matter what I might have said when it was happening. But there is one thing I have to know, Rufus. _Did_ you know about project Achilles?"

"Not until Cole asked."

"And now?"

"I know more. But not much. He has half, and I have half, but I am guessing that his half is more explicative."

"I don't get it. He knew you would never give him what he wanted for me, so why even bother?"

"The same reason he sent those four videos to Tseng directly. To unnerve the Turks and distract them. Except for me-"

"It was worse. I'm sorry Rufus, for the things I said."

"I am sorry for what I said."

Reno was gripping the edge of the bed tightly now. But there was a question that had been burning Rufus the entire time.

"Was it true what he said? As long as I didn't break the connection, as long as I...watched... he would stop torturing you after that one hour? When the camera went out, did he really stop?"

"Sometimes." Reno took a shaky breath. "Thank you Rufus. Thank you for never severing that connection."

"But you still can't look at me. Reno, only I know what happened to you every session. Only I know that every day Charles Cole opened a live feed between my laptop and that room so I could witness what they did to you while he demanded I give him the other half of this long-lost Achilles project that my father started. So only _I_ can really understand how impossible it is that you have shown, to this point, no sign that it has affected you mentally. Until now. You _can't _look at me, can you?"

"No."

"Because you despise me."

"Because I had a choice to stare at my torturer or stare at your face on that monitor. I picked you and now when I sleep, when I feel every pain they inflicted on me, I see you. When it was happening, it was like I wasn't alone in that place, but now it's like that place has followed me back here. Because those memories that I want to keep to myself are also in your head, and probably on your hard drive. So now, even when I kill every last one of those bastards, there will still be one person left alive who will know what happened in that place."

"Okay." Rufus said. "But you're going to have to look at me sometime, Reno. Don't you think it would be best to get it over with now?"

Rufus watched the knuckles tighten to white. Underneath his t-shirt, Reno's chest was rising and falling quicker than it ought too. He even thought he saw the creases of pain in his face. But Reno was never one to back down from a challenge, and no matter what was happening inside of him, that trait was still very much alive in him.

It was hard to tell who was affected more by the silent confrontation. Reno did not see what he expected in Rufus' eyes: the pity and pain that was in everyone elses' gaze when they looked at him was completely absent. These eyes were placid, just as steady and calm as ever. Reno didn't know whether to be relieved or offended. This man who had seen more than anyone else could look at him so calmly. Was he really that cold, or was this just Shinra strength? But the answer came flooding back beyond his control. Because all of the sudden he wasn't seeing Rufus at present, he was seeing the pale faced president that first time Cole laid out his terms, the first hour he endured Reno's screams, Reno's pleas and curses. And every hour after, those eyes had forced themselves to watch, but the horror could not be removed from them, the hands that almost always clenched over his mouth could only hide so much of his expression. The face Reno had screamed at on that monitor, the face he'd hated just as much as he sought comfort in it.

Rufus had been so focused on getting Reno to look at him, he hadn't prepared himself for what he would see in Reno's eyes. For one long moment, he thought Reno truly must be indestructible, because the coldness and fierceness of those green eyes would never betray what had happened to him in that month. But that shield melted almost at once. And then he saw such fear and horror it was as if Cole had Reno back in that room.

Rufus gripped Reno's shoulders when he realized the man before him was quickly losing his battle over all those suppressed feelings and memories. "Reno, calm down. Remember that you're safe now."

Reno shut his eyes and nodded, but his breath was still on the edge of hyperventilation. He stood up and moved past Rufus toward the bathroom.

"Reno?"

The red head pushed the door open and sat on the toilet, just outside of Rufus' view. He heard sharp breaths turn to sobs.

After everything Reno knew he'd seen, he still didn't want Rufus to see him cry.

* * *

"Are you still out there, Rufus?" His voice was faint and hoarse as it called around the bathroom door.

"I am."

"So what are you going to do about this project Achilles?"

Rufus stared at the half open door but decided to remain where he was. It seemed Reno was more comfortable having this conversation in two separate rooms.

"I have investigated as much as I can on my own. My father was good at keeping his secrets."

"And you really don't know what it is?"

"I have little in the way of documentation. I did find reference to the building you were held in. Is that what you told Tseng, that it was a Shinra building?"

"Yes. But without knowing about Achilles it will take him time to make any connections."

"Why didn't you tell him?"

"Because not even Cole wanted the Turks in on it. He just wanted you to know. And clearly you didn't want them to know either, otherwise you would have already told them. So I decided to keep it to myself until we could discuss it."

"Well, you must want them to know on some level, or you wouldn't have told Tseng about the building."

"I could say the same to you, sir. If you really didn't want the Turks finding out, you wouldn't have let me talk to Tseng before I'd talked to you."

Rufus chuckled. "Touché."

"So why haven't you said? Is it because you'll have to admit about the video feed?"

"I suppose that is part of it. But I also wanted to know more about my father's work before I opened it up to the Turks."

"Then you must be pretty concerned. So what _did_ you find?"

"Bodies." Rufus answered shortly. "Many bodies. A long list of names that disappeared from Shinra files, ranging from Turks, to doctors to SOLDIER and all of them could be traced back to this Achilles experiment. And a lab. That is what Cole needs. It's a facility I never knew existed, right here in the mansion. Powered down, has been for years. Strange instruments and tools. It reminded me of Jenova. Cole must know what it is for."

"Okay then." Reno said. "We let Tseng keep digging on his own, he'll find it soon, I'm sure. Then he never has to know about what you saw."

"Are you protecting me, or yourself?"

"Does it matter?"

"Alright, Reno, we'll do this your way."

"Thank you. But promise me you will not cut me out. I want to help the investigation."

"Reno, you can't leave this facility, your system is too vulnerable right now, you'll only get sicker."

"Well let me do what I can."

"Alright."

Reno heard Rufus stand. He took a few paces toward the bathroom door but did not enter. For a long moment he just stood there, as if trying to decide what to say. Then he sighed. "Has Tseng sent the sketch artist yet?"

"No."

"Okay. I'll send him down when you are ready."

"Okay." With that, the president left. Reno sighed, looking up to the shower, but he still didn't get his chance to relax. He heard a quiet 'excuse me' and knew someone was in his room. This someone, however, had no problem pushing through the door to the bathroom to find the red head slouched on the toilet cover, back against the wall and feet up on the edge of the tub.

"Crying in the bathroom, are we?" Reno's head shot up and he immediately put a hand to rub at his eyes. They were still a little puffy.

"Shut up, Nora." The tall surgeon sat on the edge of the bath. She really was beautiful. Her hair was a mess of curls, but somehow elegantly clipped together. Her bright eyes stood out in contrast to her dark skin, and were Reno's favourite part of her. They were so intelligent- they saw everything, sort of like he did as a Turk, except he'd missed one key thing about her- she had been making eyes at Rude and not him all that time. That was two years ago now, and he half expected his partner to pop the question. Nora was special, she'd become his friend and Reno knew no one else could be any more perfect for Rude.

"You can hardly tell," she said, putting a hand on his face. But it wasn't a gesture of comfort, soon she was leaning in and looking closely at his eye.

"What are you doing?"

"Checking out Dr. Smith's handiwork. Look to the left." He did as instructed. "Look up. Good. Everything looks fine."

"I could have told you that, I can see you after all. Hey, why aren't you the doctor in charge of my case?"

"Conflict of interest."

"What? Rude's you're boyfriend, how is _that _not a conflict of interest?"

"Because Rude is in a coma and I don't have to tell him what to do. You however, hate listening to anything I say."

"Yeah, but that's about cleaning up pizza boxes and taking off my shoes when I'm at Rude's."

"Do you want me to be your doctor, Reno?"

He looked at her, and suddenly something struck him. He looked back to her eyes."You haven't seen the videos, have you?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Rude asked me not to. In fact, he asked for everyone to leave the room except the Turks but things didn't go his way. I left though. I'm sorry, Reno, maybe that makes me weak, but Rude needed my support after that and if I'd been in that room too, I'm not sure I would have been much of a shoulder to cry on. And honestly," she reached out a hand and grabbed his. This time it was not a clinical touch, this was tender. "I didn't want to see you in pain."

"Thank you." Reno breathed, for some reason feeling incredible relief. "I wish no one had seen those videos. And I am glad Rude had you, though I doubt he was crying on your shoulder," Reno smiled but caught the look in Nora's eyes and it faded. He imagined himself if it had been Rude. "Or maybe I can." He said softly.

"You know Rude, he worries about you like a brother. And," she added with a smile, "I guess that means that I do too. Even if Rude ever gets the courage to ask the question, I still feel like I'm going to be marrying you both, you two are practically inseparable."

"So long as you understand the deal." Reno smiled. Nora stood.

"Come on, I have your breakfast waiting."

"Wow, taking care of my already." He joked but was slow to rise. His discussion with Rufus had drained him. Nora took careful hold of his arm and guided him out to a chair. She wheeled the small table over to him and adjusted the height. He picked up the fork and poked at his scrambled eggs but didn't eat them yet.

"How is Rude?"

"Incredible. Looks like we'll be able to wake him up sooner that we thought."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He will still need to take it easy- very easy- but for someone who was shot three times it's practically a miracle."

Reno nodded. "I miss him. Nora, I'm sorry he got hurt. He risked everything to come into that building after me."

"And if I had been there I would not have stopped him, Reno. I understand he acted recklessly, but he always acts with his heart, and that thing is never wrong. It's why people like you and me are drawn to him."

"You saying I have a bad heart?"

"I'm saying you and I have both let our hearts get betrayed too many times. But with Rude, you know he'll always be on your side. He'll never abandon you, never betray you."

"Yeah."

"Now eat up."

"I'm not really hungry."

"I don't really care, eat." Reno sighed and stuck the fork in his mouth. Nora smiled. "Good. It's time you started listening to me."

"Ha ha." But he made a face and after a moment spit his eggs back out.

"What's wrong?"

"I just really don't feel like eating." He answer.

"Okay." She did, however, make him drink all his orange juice and then got him settled back into his bed.

"Elena has a cold. We can't let her in to see you until she's better or at least not contagious but she sends her love." Reno just nodded, he was falling asleep. "Alright, I'll be by again later." She whispered and shut out the lights.

* * *

When Tseng entered the room, he spotted Nora sat in the chair next to cold eggs and a large folder in her lap.

"Dr. Jones. Is everything alright?"

She looked up, half startled as she had been so deep in her reading. "Oh, sorry Director. No, everything is fine. I know I am not officially on Reno's case, but...I didn't think it could hurt to take a look at his files."

"I am grateful for any help he gets." Tseng took the seat opposite her. "So?"

Nora sighed. "I won't watch those videos, Reno was so relieved I hadn't. But these reports..." Tseng noticed the tissue balled in her hand, "I can't believe he went through all this."

"And more that we don't know about."

"I know. And that is why I would like to run some tests. I haven't spoken to Dr. Smith about it yet, but based on his charts, I have some concerns. For one thing, his EKG readings are not terribly consistent. He's been sick with pneumonia for a long time, and who knows what else. It can take a toll on the heart. And we need to do more x-rays. He really didn't have many done initially, mostly just his chest. But he could have had several fractures. I want to know about any potential complications as soon as possible."

"Nora, do you want me to have you put in charge of his case?

"No. I just want to be kept informed. But don't worry about that, I will discuss the matter with Dr. Smith. There was just one other thing I had to ask you. The bathroom. I found him in there this morning, very upset. And Dr. Smith mentioned he was in there for hours the other day, with you for some of it. I'm not a psychologist by any means, but-"

"He's a Turk. This room is very open, as is this entire facility. People are in and out all the time. The bathroom is closed off, secure. He can control who comes in, who goes out and his back is covered."

"It's his safety net."

"And I don't think we should try correcting that behaviour until he feels safe elsewhere."

"Okay. Thank you, Director." Nora stood and gathered her folder. "I will be back once I have the tests arranged."

"Thank you."

* * *

_**Another update for you, dear readers!**_

_**Riza**_


	5. Chapter 5

_That black room. The chains cutting into his wrists. The burning in his arms. Cole's eyes enraged, as if he was the one hanging there and Reno was his torturer. Such hatred Reno had never even seen. And then he was being drug away, through that white bright hall and up those stairs and the hot lights of the cameras were on him and Rufus's face on that monitor and then everything was lost in an explosion of pain._

"Reno. Reno!"

"Hold him still, Director."

"What's happening?"

"He's hyperventilating. Reno, wake up, you're home." Green eyes snapped open and took in the two faces above him, but even if he could see it was Tseng and Nora, he couldn't get his breathing to calm down. He continued to gasp in large breaths at a time.

"Reno." Nora said calmly, "I'm going to help you calm your breathing, okay? Don't fight me. Director."

Tseng did not let up his hold as Nora closed her hand over Reno's mouth, and pressed her fingers against one side of his nose, forcing him only to breath through one nostril. "You are taking in too much oxygen and you are going to pass out." She explained. This helped some. It took quite a while for him to calm down though. Eventually his body began to relax and his breath evened out. Tseng slackened his grip and Nora took her hand from his face.

"That's better," she breathed. Reno just lay there recovering for several minutes. Nora took his pulse and felt his temperature. "Bad memory?"

"Yeah." Reno answered, pinching the bridge of his nose. Tseng helped him sit up. "Sorry."

"Don't be. So, feel like doing some tests?"

Reno looked up at her. "What kind?"

"MRI, CT scan, the works,"

"Why?"

"Because I said I was going to take care of you and Dr. Smith agrees we should know everything we can to help you get better."

"Okay."

"Good."

Tseng quietly stood by the two doctors through every test. Reno was docile the entire time, but he seemed off. Whatever memory had struck him had clearly unsettled him. When they wheeled him back to his room, he stood up and sighed, looking to the bathroom.

"I am going to take a shower." he announced. How long had he been trying to do that? Obviously the staff here had cleaned him up while he was unconscious but he longed for that simple feeling of warm water running over him.

"Reno you're exhausted. Maybe you should take a bath." Nora suggested.

"Nope. Been waiting for this." He mumbled.

"Fine, I'll get it warm for you." Nora stepped into the bathroom ahead of him. He sat on the toilet lid while she lay down the bath rug and set down some towels. "Then you need to eat something." She instructed. "I have to go back to my office for a bit but perhaps the Director can make sure you eat at least something."

"Of course." Tseng said from the doorway.

"Fine." Reno groaned.

"Good." Nora reached into the shower and turned the tap.

It was as if she'd turned an electric switch in Reno's body. The moment the onslaught of water hit tiled wall and thundered onto the bottom of the tub, his whole body went rigid. The room before him was transformed from the clean facility, to that dark and awful room. The tub became a tank of ice water. He felt himself being plunged in. Over and over and over. The shower became a torturous stream feeding an electrical current. His body was on fire with cold and shocks. It was all happening to him again.

And then he was back. He was on the floor of his room, fingers knotted into his shirt over his heart, and a pain in his chest so intense he could barely draw breath. Tseng was on the floor next to him, his leg had given out in his effort to get Reno out of the bathroom. He was telling him to breath and Nora was racing across the room for something.

"Reno, breath." Tseng repeated. The younger man's eyes were wide with pain, his whole body fighting to draw breath. "NORA!"

"Here." She fell to her knees next to them and pressed a breathing mask over Reno's mouth. She carefully regulated the flow of oxygen. As soon as it started working, Reno's hand closed over hers, desperate to keep the mask as close as possible and get all the air he could.

"What's happening?"

"I think he's having a panic attack and the pneumonia can't be helping him get his breath."

"Why is it happening now?"

"The shower. You said we have no idea about everything they did to him."

Tseng nodded. There were many ways for a person to be tortured with water. "But he was looking forward to it."

"He didn't know it would be a trigger."

"Damn them." Tseng clenched his fist.

The door opened, Nora must have hit the call button for help. "Get me some benzodiazepine , now."

"Yes m'am." the door shut again.

"That should help with the pain, Reno." She said gently and a moment later someone returned with a syringe. Nora swabbed his arm and braced it but Reno was too busy breathing to even react with the needle went in. It worked fast. In a matter of minutes his body began to relax and she was able to take the mask away.

"I don't want to move him just yet." She said, the nurse nodded and got a pillow from the bed. Nora eased it under Reno's head. "Okay, Reno, just keep breathing as evenly as possible." Nora gripped his hand. Reno weakly held back. He was scared, less from the memory and more the attack just now. He had not expected this.

"Shit." he breathed out. "Nora I feel like my heart is beating twice as fast." She slid her free hand against his neck.

"Just keep breathing."

"Could you help me up?" She considered but then nodded for Tseng to help. They just got him sitting up first. He winced and grabbed his chest again.

"The chair." Nora said and she and Tseng each took a side and got him propped in one of the armchairs where he'd tried to eat breakfast that morning. He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and rested his face in his hands. They both watched him carefully but he remained silent for several minutes.

"How do you feel, Reno?" She asked after a moment.

"Sick." his voice was thick. Nora knew he was holding back. She looked to Tseng. His jaw was set and she knew he wasn't here in the present, he was thinking to when he might get his hands on the people who had done this to Reno. But his presence at the moment was not helping their patient.

"Director, your leg should be looked at, I can take over here." She said it naturally but her eyes told him everything he needed to know. He looked back to Reno, now trembling all over.

"Alright." He said softly. He seemed to want to say something to Reno but couldn't find the words so he left. Nora moved the other chair closer to Reno and sat, their knees practically touching.

"It was like I was back there." he said through his hands. "I couldn't even see you guys. It was literally like it was happening all over again. I couldn't control it. I couldn't fight it." His voice broke completely and he began to sob into his hands. She leaned as close as she could and gently put her arms about him.

"You've been through more than any of us can understand." She whispered into his ear. "I know you just want everything to be back to normal. We're just going to have to take it step by step, and we'll learn along the way. You had a flashback, Reno. It's frightening and confusing. It's just us here. Just let it out, okay?"

He collapsed into her completely, his face in her shoulder, and she held him tight. When she'd first started dating Rude, she couldn't understand how he was such good friends with Reno. He was so obnoxious, so sloppy and bad-mannered. But it didn't take long for her to see that the maverick Turk would die for the man she loved, for his team, and that when it really counted, he put everyone else before himself. And she loved him for it the same way Rude did. So, since Rude couldn't be here, it was up to her. Besides, she wasn't a Turk, she was just a friend, and as far as she knew, she was Reno's only such friend, and she would not let him go while he needed her.

After some time the sobs quieted into shaky breaths. Reno pulled away and practically collapsed back into the chair, sniffing and wiping his face with his hand. Nora slipped back to the bathroom and wet a cloth and got a glass of water. She washed his face and he swallowed the water.

"Bed?" She asked. He just nodded, completely spent. It took most her strength to get him from chair to bed. He fell asleep almost at once. For a moment she just brushed the hair from his face and watched him sleep. But she only took a moment because the best help she could give him was to find out what was going on in his body.

As she was leaving, however, she paused and looked at the bathroom door. Reno's safe place was gone.

* * *

There was a gentle knock at the door, Rufus called for Tseng to enter. He had a stack of papers in his hand.

"I have the composites." He set the stack on Rufus's desk. "As you know, we don't know anyone's names yet, but Reno supplied us with his code names."

"Like _Charles Cole_?"

"Yes. Reno said the leader never told him his name, so he made one up. He said he often wore a charcoal coloured suit, hence, Charles Cole."

"Clever." Rufus stared down at the face of the man he'd seen on the other side of his monitor every day for a month and pretended as if he was seeing it for the first time. "I am a bit surprised to see these today. I heard Reno had a set-back a couple of days ago."

"Yes and no. The panic attack has shaken him, but because of that he has stayed in bed and his pneumonia seems to have gotten a bit better. Despite whatever may be happening psychologically, he is determined to continue the investigation."

"He is strong." Rufus sifted through the different faces. Tseng continued explaining.

"The next three are the guards he saw most often. Sir..." Tseng hesitated, "he seems to think they may be clones of some sort."

"Clones?"  
"He said he saw multiple men with the same faces. After all of the research following Jenova, it wouldn't be impossible."

"Unfortunately no." Rufus flipped to the next man. "And him?"

"He is a normal human as far as Reno could tell. He called him Alder and that might be his actual name. He is the man who apprehended Reno on the roof that day. Reno thinks he may be one of the higher ranking soldiers there."

"So they _are_ soldiers?"

"Reno says Cole referred to them both as 'guards' and 'soldiers,' but based on their formations and tactics, they seem very military."

Rufus looked at the last one.

"The doctor." Tseng supplied. "Very highly trained, as far as we can tell."

"And yet this is what he chose to do with his skills." Rufus set the pile down.

"I also have a sketch of the building's layout. There are some peculiarities that I am investigating."

"Then carry on. Good work, Tseng."

"Sir."

Tseng left Rufus' office. The president hadn't even questioned him about the peculiarities. He must know something, but Tseng would wait to find out on his own. Sometimes, it was the only way to know the truth for certain, when the president was involved.

"Sir." He looked up and spotted Elena. "I have found something interesting."

"Tell me." He took the file she offered and she explained as they continued walking. "I think the facility mentioned in these files may be located in this building."

Tseng stopped. A muscle in his leg twinged at the sudden movement and he stumbled a bit. Elena reached out to support him and he noticed her cast was gone.

"How is the arm?"

"I think I should be asking you how your leg is." She said as he straightened himself.

"I'll be fine."

"So will I. Doctor says not permanent damage."

"Good, then you can find this facility."

"Yes sir."

"Just do it quietly. And call me when you have something."

"I will."

She turned off at the next hall. As soon as she was gone Tseng grabbed the wall for support. He stared down at his leg in frustration. "Damn."

* * *

The steady beep of monitors and rhythmic breathing of the machines around Rude were almost soothing. So controlled and constant. Something to calm the mind of the doctor on overdrive. Nora lost herself so much in that steadiness that she didn't hear the door slide open.

"Reno! You shouldn't be up."

But he didn't stay up for long, he moved to the chair and practically fell into it. It was a couple days after the attack, his breathing had only just started to improve, and he'd been mostly asleep. But he looked at her now with a knowing gaze and she fumbled to shut his file and wipe the tears off her cheeks.

"So I take it the tests came back. And now you know."

"Reno...you knew about this? Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because if I don't have much time left, I don't want to spend it with everyone around me thinking about what's going to happen."

"Did their doctor tell you anything? Do you know what caused the damage?"

Reno lay hand against his chest. "They used alot of electricity. One day, I think they went too far. I was out for a long time, and after that they left me in the clinic for a couple days at least. I could hardly move. I don't know if I had a heart attack or what, but I never really recovered from that. Can't catch my breath, weak. He said if they kept torturing me, I wouldn't make it a week."

"When did this happen?"

"About half way through, maybe a little later. They never used electricity again, but they still did everything else. So, how long do I got?"

"The damage to your heart is severe. I can do what I can to prologue it, Reno, you could have up to two years if you're careful."

"That much, I'm surprised."

"But not relieved."

"I didn't think I'd have to lie to everyone for that long."

"You can't. I mean, you can't expect me not to say anything."

"I do, at least, for a bit." Reno looked to Rude, "I know you can't lie to him, but just wait, until he's back on his feet, okay? Same for the others too."

"Then I will have to take over your case."

"So you'll do it then?"

"Yes. But only until he is better."

"Thank you."

"Reno, you're awfully calm about all of this."

He looked at her, his eyes strong and determined. "There are things happening, Nora. I can't tell you what, and I still have more to figure out. I can't waste time on self pity, I have to do what I can before I die."

"Reno, if you don't take time to heal, if you start pushing yourself, then you know you're heart could give out."

"Nora, I don't need two years. I just need enough time to sort this situation out."

"Have you talked to Tseng about whatever is going on?"

"I have told him what I could. But until I know more, that's all I can do."

Nora looked at him hard, and he couldn't tell if she was seeing her patient or her friend. "I can't ethically let you run yourself into an earlier grave."

"Then what do I have to do to get those two years, huh? Go through surgeries, lay in a bed, never work again? I am going to _live_ with the time I have left, not die slowly."

Her lips trembled, but he knew he'd convinced her. "So is that how you're doing it, then? You know you're going to die soon so you're just walling up everything that happened?"

"I guess. No point in therapy, just need to avoid what happened the other day."

"Reno, how am I going to explain that I am taking over your case, that I am not giving you therapy? And you're not going to stay in bed much longer, are you? You want to get moving as soon as possible."

"Tseng is investigating something. Once he finds what he's looking for, I need to be there."

"You're sick."

"I'll manage. I should have another day or two to rest. Dr. Smith said he thought the pneumonia was getting better."

"And what about protecting your immune system?"

"Dunno. I'll just have be careful, I guess."

Nora slid back deeper into her chair and covered her face with her hand.

"I'm sorry, Nora, but this is what I have to do." He sighed and stood up. For a moment it seemed like he was about to topple over, but then he took a deep breath and headed out the door. Nora tried not to give in, but one glance at her sleeping boyfriend and she gave in to the tears.

* * *

_**The drama continues!**_

_**Thank you very much for the reviews thus far, it's great to hear your thoughts and I am glad that Nora has been well recieved, it is always tricky incorporating an OC into such a tight knit cast of characters but I felt she was needed and I really fell in love with her as I wrote this piece. Thanks again,**_

_**Riza**_


	6. Chapter 6

"You can't seriously be releasing him?" Dr. Smith spat, standing in the door to Reno's room and blocking his exit. Nora put a calming hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry that I pulled rank on you on this one, Tom, but I am honestly doing what I think is best for my patient, whether you understand that or not."

"I absolutely _do not _understand and when I take this up with the Director of the Turks, I am sure he will not either."

"Back off." Reno shouted suddenly. "Get out of our way and don't you dare waste Turk time because your pride was hurt."

Dr. Smith grit his teeth. "I only ever wanted to help you, Reno. I don't know why you are doing this, but a day out in the general population and your immune system could collapse."

"Or I could be fine. Just move."

There was nothing else to be said or done. Dr. Smith moved aside. The two exited.

"Now make sure to take all your medications at the right time, Reno, they will give you the best protection against germs and keep you on your feet. I included only a mild painkiller, you need to know when to stop."

"Thank you Nora." He paused at the exit to the medical facilities, "now you focus on getting my partner back in shape. I hate to sound selfish here, but I could really use his help."

"I love you Reno, but I am not going to let you take him down with you. Please, let him heal when he wakes up. If you get him involved in whatever you're doing, he will push himself too hard."

"I know. I promise, and that's why you can't tell him anything either."

She nodded. "Okay, I'll be checking up on you."

"Thanks." He pushed past the doors.

"And make sure you eat!"

He nodded and waved a hand.

"And sleep!" she called through the glass doors at his back. She saw the smile but her face was crumbling. She had broken so many rules to let him walk out of this ward, and for all she knew she was letting him walk to his death. But no matter how little he had told her, his green eyes had screamed desperate. Something was up, and Reno needed to act. She had to trust him.

* * *

"Director, I found it. Please, meet me at the third floor maintenance room." Elena shut her phone and rounded the corner to the elevators. The doors parted and she nearly dropped her cell.

"Reno!" But instead of rushing forward she took a few paces back, "I have a cold."

"I'll be okay." He said, putting a hand on the elevator door to prevent it from closing. "Get in here."

She cautiously took a step forward. "You sure? I didn't even hear you were released."

"Yeah, I'm just back from my apartment to get changed." He was back in his Turk uniform, as sloppily put on as ever, except a bit too large on his thin frame now.

"I can't believe you're out."

"Don't worry, I haven't gone awol, the doc signed off on it, I swear."

She moved all the way into the elevator and he let the doors close. "I want to hug you but I really don't want to give you my cold."

"I said don't worry about it." He stepped closer and put his arms around her.

"But you still need to heal. I don't understand why they let you go."

"I just needed to feel normal." He breathed over her shoulder. "The doctors understood that." He stepped back and looked her over. "So you're arm is finally out of that cast."

"Yeah. Healed perfectly."

"I'm glad. I never did ask, did Shinra find you right away?"

"I guess. I passed out shortly after you left me. Reno..." she took a breath but he held up a hand.

"Don't you dare feel guilty about what happened. I was the one who broke my promise, remember?"

Before she could say anything to this, however, the doors opened and they stepped off onto the third floor. "So, what are you investigating?"

"Actually, Tseng got a lead based on the information you gave him. We're looking into it now. Are you alright to come along?"

"Absolutely." They went down the halls, getting more than a few curious glances from people who hadn't seen Reno since he'd been back. Tseng was waiting around the corner. Reno could tell he was less convinced than Elena when he gave his explanations but he seemed willing to let it slide as there were pressing matters at hand.

"You're okay to join us then?" He asked.

"Yes."

"Alright." Tseng then began to explain everything as they walked through the maintenance halls, growing more narrow and convoluted with cords and consoles and grated walk ways. Elena lead the way, schematics in hand, and stopped abruptly before a panel. It looked like any other, but she checked back and forth between map and pipes and markers on the nearby equipment before looking back at the two men. "This is it. Behind this console, according to this schematic, is a power generator. The model listed matches the rest of the generators in the basement of this building."

"So?" Reno asked.

"So, the physical space required for such a generator simply does not exist. That generator cannot be back there."

"Good work." Tseng said approvingly.

"Thank you, sir." She leaned forward and examined the console. After a moment or two of flicking through options she entered an override and a panel in the wall slid back. She snapped on a flashlight and entered.

The facility was smaller than Reno had expected, though Rufus's explanation had been vague.

"There is a power switch. Should I turn it on?" Elena asked.

"Give it a try." Tseng instructed. Elena did. The room slowly came to life, as if old light bulbs were reluctant to wake up.

Reno was grateful that the room didn't suddenly jump to life. He was starting to feel a bit dizzy and his head was pounding. He covered his eyes while the lights came on fully.

"You okay?" Tseng asked coming to his side.

"Fine. You guys look around, I just need a moment."

Tseng nodded and began his exploration. But there was little to find. The walls were round, covered in smooth, white panels, and clean, despite their obvious age. And at the centre there was a clear cylindrical tube just a few inches in diameter leading into a small tank and a hose with a sort of needled end wrapped next to it.

"What is that?" Elena asked. Reno shook his head clear and moved forward to take a better look himself. He was beginning to feel the many pains in his body, some a dull constant ache, others would suddenly flare to life in hot intensity. Beneath his uniform, his body was still a mess of bandages. The only ones now visible were the ones around his wrists and a pair of fingers braced together. He had a pretty pronounced limp, and if he expected to be around much longer he'd try to get that fixed, but as it was, he really didn't have time to waste. But right now he was a Turk and his mind pushed the pain to the background so he could focus on the task at hand.

"It's air tight as far as I can tell." Tseng said as he ran his hands over the tubing, the tank. "Could be for gas or a liquid."

"Mako?" Reno suggested.

"No, well, it could be but I don't see any reason for a separate facility for Mako. Besides this isn't the same as the equipment used for refining Mako.

Reno looked back at the entrance. The door was heavy, maybe lead. He looked above them, those tubes went beyond the room, maybe above or maybe they redirected elsewhere.

"Can I see those schematics?" Reno asked and Elena handed him the large papers. He examined them closely, Tseng realized his conclusion and came to his side to take a look. "There." Reno pointed. "Looks like there is a room straight above here where those tanks lead."

"Could be." Elena added. This room isn't that high. There could be just enough space for something else above us."

"You mean still on level three?" Tseng asked.

"Yeah. But how do we get there?" Reno asked.

Tseng looked around. "This room is made to be sealed off. There is no way to get up there from here." He headed to the door and the others followed him out. Back by the console, there was still no way to get up there.

"There." Tseng pointed at the end of the grated corridor. "A ladder."

Elena went first with her flashlight. Tseng followed her up. It took Reno a fair bit of effort to pull himself up even though he only had to climb a few rungs. He was glad when he reached the top to find Tseng waiting to help pull him up.

"Got it." Elena announced a few feet down the narrow space. They could just barely stand, they were literally walking on top of the pipes and they could see the corridor below. Elena was at a door, it wasn't concealed, it simply said "generator access" but there was a combination pad.

"Any guesses?"

Tseng inspected the pad. "This is a trigger lock. If we input the wrong combination, an alarm might go off."

"So?" Reno said.

"Or it might self destruct and we could lose access for ever."

"Oh."

"Right. There's nothing more we can do here, let's head back and see what we can find out."

There was no doubt that they were disappointed, but Tseng was right. They made their way back to the rest of the mansion and headed to their offices.

"I'm going to my room." Reno said at the elevators. "I think I need to lie down."

"Of course. Elena, walk him back."

Reno raised his hand. "I'm fine, just let me know if you find anything out, okay?"

The director nodded, Elena gave him an anxious glance but they carried on. He stood at the elevators waiting for one that was empty. When he got inside, he dug a key out of his pocket and stuck it in the gold slot in the elevator that read _President._ The doors opened, he nodded to the guards and made his way down the hall to Rufus' office.

Rufus was not surprised to see him like Tseng and Elena had been.

"I take it Dr. Smith called." Reno said as he sat in the chair in front of Rufus's desk. He was sitting directly opposite the president but he leaned to one side and stared out the giant glass windows.

"Yes. How did you convince Dr. Jones to let you go?"

Reno considered but if Rufus doubted Nora's professional integrity it could cause her problems. "All the electricity they used on me damaged my heart. Probably not going to live much longer. I would rather help you with this than live out my days in the medical ward. Don't tell the others, please."

This did get a reaction out of Rufus, though Reno didn't see since he wasn't looking at him. He could still hear the stammer and the hitch in his breath.

"Reno, I'm sorry." He finally said.

"Thanks. So you understand right? I want to see this through before I go and I don't want the Turks distracted by my condition."

"Alright, if those are your wishes."

"Good. Then tell me what you know about the combination lock."

"Ah, so Tseng found the room. I have searched for a combination but as of yet I have nothing."

"So is that what you think Cole has?"

"Yes. I think he has that and more. He must have project files on Achilles, and we have the facility."

"Alright, but then why have a whole other building?"

"I wondered that myself. Without the project files and understanding just what it was all about, we can't really make many guesses about that. I think you are correct, that the building reaches the plate but is mostly unfinished. There is no entrance directly above the building, but there is a good chance there are secret tunnels just below or in the plate itself, meaning the entrance could be virtually anywhere."

Reno nodded. "So essentially a lost cause."

"Looks that way."

"Alright. Well, what about the entrance in the slums? Why so fancy for an entrance down there?"

"I have discussed this with Tseng. We have concluded that Cole must recruit right out of the slums. Who wouldn't want a job with him if they saw all that? And, where better to hide people than in the slums? There is a good chance that many of those soldiers- the ones who aren't clones- and even civilians continue to live down there where they can exist practically undetected."

Reno exhaled. "Wow. Smart."

"Yes."

"But they seem educated."  
"They probably are- Cole isn't a young man, he could have recruited these people years ago, trained them, built up his own industry right underneath us."

"The only one that could rival Shinra."

"Exactly."

Reno absorbed this. "Alright." He stood but stumbled and landed back in the chair with a loud groan. Rufus swept around the desk to his side and reached out a hand to steady him. Without meaning to, Reno recoiled.

Rufus stepped back, Reno remained in the chair.

"I'll get a guard to help you."

"Rufus, I'm sorry." Reno looked up at him, for the first time since Rufus had made him look him in the eyes. "Really, I didn't mean it."

"It's okay." Rufus answered evenly, and Reno couldn't tell if he really was mad or not, but he moved out of his sight to get help. Reno barely managed to stumble back to his quarters with the guard's help. He practically fell onto his bed and let sleep overtake him.

He woke to rather insistent knocking. He made to holler but he throat was too dry. The door opened a moment later, however, and Nora and Tseng burst in.

"Oh thank goodness." She breathed. Reno rolled over onto his back, he didn't think he'd moved the entire time he was asleep. He hadn't even had any dreams either. He felt sore.

"What's the emergency?" He groaned, still tired. He felt the weight of his shoes and realized he hadn't even taken them off.

"You've been out for about thirty-six hours." Nora said, sitting next to him on the bed.

"Oh." Reno responded drowsily.

"I checked on you earlier." Tseng explained, "and decided I might as well just let you sleep. But when we came back and you were still asleep we got a bit concerned."

Nora was looking him over but seemed to become relieved. "I think you just needed the rest. How are you feeling?"

"Nothing new. Stiff though." He stretched and sat up. "Oh" he felt the rush of blood to his head but it quickly passed.

"Well, I think you're alright but I would like to check you over and re-do your bandages."

Reno nodded. "How's the investigation, Tseng?"

"So far we have no leads."

"Shit. Alright, I'll meet up with you later, then."

"As long as she says you're up to it." He said indicating Nora and headed out the door.

"I feel gross." Reno said flopping back onto the bed.

"You just said you feel alright."

"No I mean I need to shower."

"Oh." She stood up. "How about I get a bath ready for you? We'll try that."

"Okay." He lay in the safety of his bed while she went to the washroom. He noticed she was careful to close the door before she turned on the tap. He rubbed his face, feeling stupid that he couldn't even take a bath without it being a big deal. He wanted to relax and feel clean, but he was terrified that when he stepped in that room it would all happen all over again.

"It's ready." He was pulled back out of his thoughts by her voice. He realized how close he'd been to falling asleep again. "I'll change your sheets while you're in the bath, maybe you should sleep again when you're done."

"I've already been asleep too long."

"Tseng said he hit a wall, just take it easy until there is more to do."

"No." Reno looked up at her adamantly. "I have to look into something."

"Reno, I don't like this. You're not telling Tseng everything. And the other day, when I came into your room, it was the president that was leaving. Are you keeping secrets for him too? Are you keeping secrets from them _both?"_

Reno tried to look away before he revealed too much but she already caught the look in his eye.

"Oh Reno, no. Why are you doing this? What could you possibly have to keep secret from them?"

"It's not the secrets I'm keeping that concerns me. It's what Rufus isn't telling me. He may have his reasons, and that's why I haven't said anything to Tseng yet. Besides, there is a reason he isn't telling Tseng and as long as he knows I'm keeping his secrets, he'll keep giving me information."

"You shouldn't be doing this."

"I need to get to the bottom of what Cole is after. He was using me to get it, Nora, so I need to know why I am going to die."

She sat heavily on the bed with her back to him and cupped her face in her hands. "You bastard, stop pulling that card on me."

"I'm sorry Nora."

"Why not talk to Elena, then? Maybe she can give you some perspective."

"There are things I don't want her to know."

"Ugh." Nora swung around now, those brown eyes furious and her dark skin flushing. "What? What can't you tell your closest friends? What could be so bad you couldn't tell her, or me for that matter?"

Reno almost said it. He didn't know why, maybe because if it was Rude he would have spilled his guts and she was the closest thing she had to him right now. But his chest ached, and not because of everything that had happened but because he felt horribly alone in his suspicions and the web of lies and secrets that seemed to be growing around him.

But he bit the words back at the last second and hung his head, holding it between frustrated hands. His mind was screaming at him. Rufus had tripped up yesterday. He had talked about the entrance at the top of the plate. He'd tried to dismiss it by saying it was impossible to know where it came out. But the answer was so glaringly obvious: if you had a secret Shinra facility with an entrance on the surface, the most logical place to put that entrance would be inside the the other Shinra building on the surface. Somewhere in this building, in this same building he lived and worked in, was a way into Cole's facility. He didn't know if Cole knew, but Rufus certainly did, and for one reason or another, the President had lied to Reno about it.

"Your bath is going to get cold, Reno. Let's give it a try and then we'll talk after."

Her words drew his attention back. "Okay." he whispered. She took his hand and lead him to the door. They went very slowly, but Reno didn't feel anything like the other day when he stared at his tub, the water steaming and the mirror fogged.

"I'm alright," he said relieved.

"Maybe it was the noise of the water. Or maybe it's because it's your own bathroom."

"I don't know but it looks great." She took her cue and went back to the bedroom.

An hour later Reno was sprawled on clean sheets while Nora fixed his bandages. When he started to drowse she finished as quietly as possible and left the room.

* * *

"Damn it." Reno moaned when he woke again. He heard movement and turned quickly.

"Sorry." Elena froze at the door where she stood with the tray of food. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"How long this time?"

"Um..." she pretended not to know, "less then ten hours."

"Shit." he sat up but felt the difference in his body. There was no getting around alot of the pain, but he felt clean, his muscles less tense and finally he woke without feeling completely exhausted.

"You didn't miss anything." She said bringing the food over to him. She set it next to the bed but then paused looking him over. "You still have alot of bandages."

He glanced down at himself. He was just in his boxers, and she was right. Some where covering cuts or burns that were still not finished healing. Others were supporting sprains or fractures. Where there weren't bandages, there were scars. He sighed and swung his legs over the bed.

"Yeah. Could you grab me some clothes?" She went to the closet and he stared at his meal. When she returned with a fresh uniform she looked at his untouched food.

"You aren't hungry?"

He made a face. "I don't know."

"What does that mean?"

"It means my stomach is growling but I don't want to eat."

"Is it something they did?" He visibly reacted to the question so she pressed on. "What did they do?"

"You don't want to know, Elena." He stood up and put his shirt on. "You think I could have a protein shake or something?"

"Yeah, I'll get some for you. Where are you headed?"

"I just need to walk around. Give me a sec and I'll meet you outside."

"Sure."

Reno finished changing and followed Elena down to the cafeteria. "You know if you ever ate anything other than pizza you probably would have noticed this before." She smiled, pointing to a machine with a number of nozzles and bowls of fruit next to it. It was true, Shinra provided a wide variety of food choices to its employees but Reno hardly ever diverted from the pasta section.

"Pick your flavour, add some fruit, stir." Elena said as she put one together for him. "Got it?"

"Got it." He took the shake from her with a smile. "So you said I didn't miss much?"

"No. Sifting through paper work trying to find a clue, not too exciting. You should walk around if you feel like it, don't worry about us."

"I think I will, thanks." She left him in the meal hall. He really shouldn't be here, way too many germs, so he moved on to a quieter corridor to finish his shake and think. Somewhere in this building, very likely, there was a tunnel to Cole's building. It was unnerving. But still, surely Cole would have made a move if he'd known. The question was, did Rufus know where it was already? If so, why wasn't he plotting a move? In fact, why wasn't he sharing his information with the Turks?

Reno finished his drink and threw the cup in the nearest trash. But then he paused in his walk. He had intended to spend the day searching for the entrance, but the more he thought about his conversation with Rufus, the more he suspected the President already knew where the entrance was. So why waste his time looking for something that was already found?

Reno took the elevators to his office. He managed to grab what he wanted from his drawer and get out again without anyone noticing his presence. Then he turned the key and went to the top floor.

This time he looked Rufus square in the eyes; no hiding anymore.

"Reno, you look upset."  
"The reason I came here isn't a particularly pleasant one."

"What is it?"  
"I would like to see those files...the ones from the live feed."

Rufus' eyes shifted away from his own. "Why?"

"I think it's my right to see them. It's just something...I have to do."

"There are hours of footage, Reno."

"It's fine." He dug in his pocket and brought out what he'd taken from his drawer; a memory stick. "I'll copy them and get out of your hair."

Rufus sighed. "I won't argue with you Reno, do what you must." He pushed his laptop over the desk. Reno sat opposite him and plugged in his usb.

"They are in the folder called Ransom."

"Thanks. Reno's fingers flew over the keyboard. He hadn't studied computers for very long, but he had learned quickly in Turk training and now could rival some of the Turk's top hackers. He drug the videos over onto his usb, but not before leaving something else behind on Rufus' computer. The transfer took a few minutes. He sat back and calmly looked up at Rufus.

"So my face doesn't offend you today, Reno?" The president questioned.

"Neither did my bath so I think I'm on a role. Like I said before, sir, it's nothing personal."

"This whole damn thing is personal, Reno."

Reno took a deep breath, "yeah, you're right it is, for both of us." He cracked his neck and changed topics. "So you still haven't told Tseng about Achilles?"

"No."

"You going to?"

"I'm going to have to soon, no matter what dirty secrets of my father's might come to light."

"Well, give me a heads up when you do, eh? Transfer is done." Reno pulled out his memory stick, "Thanks, Rufus."

"Reno, I wouldn't suggest reliving those."

"I won't, I just need to glance over them. I just need to see."

"Alright."

Reno turned and left the office.

* * *

The moment he was back in his room Reno grabbed his laptop out of the closet and plugged it in. There was a chance Rufus would find the bug he left behind on his laptop, so Reno needed to get what he wanted now. The virus he transferred over would not only give him remote access to Rufus' personal laptop, but it would do so practically invisibly. Rufus could be working on his computer and never even know it.

"Okay, time to find out what you know."

It took half an hour to locate the files. The president was no fool when it came to keeping his secrets but neither was Reno a stranger to finding them. He read through reports from low level employees, discussions on the discovery of what the president had termed an "old emergency escape tunnel." He checked the dates. It was shortly after Reno's capture. There were a few letters detailing the tunnel layout, and then one that made Reno's stomach churn. A short letter confirming to the president that, as per his order, the discovered tunnel had been demolished- caved in beyond repair. It was dated nine days into Reno's capture, nine days of the president watching him suffer. He'd discovered a direct route to him and he'd chosen to destroy it. Reno felt his pulse quicken and his muscles tense. Anger washed through him, but he had to swallow it back and focus on his research. He copied the folder on the tunnel and moved on.

Reno quickly ran a check on the employees who signed off on the letters. Like he'd expected, they'd been dismissed or moved to other departments. Rufus was covering his tracks.

Reno wasn't able to swallow his anger for long, however, when not much later, he found the full schematics for the building in which he'd been held, dates and the former President Shinra's signature on them. He only calmed when he saw that this file was very recent, Rufus must have only just discovered these after Reno's return. At least he hadn't known earlier.

But Reno could find no justification for the final file he found. He opened the first document. A short letter, emailed, unsigned, asking about project Achilles. It was dated a year ago. It must have been from Cole. Then Rufus had began his investigation. Reno clicked on file after file. They were all from Shinra Sr. files about the construction of a new facility, but none of them detailing where or when this construction might take place. Then documents about the discovery of a new substance of unknown properties. He watched a video of testing gone wrong, lab explosions, failed experiments, inconclusive results. Reno leaned close to get a look at the substance. Even just the small amount the lab tech was holding shone bright gold from the test tube. The file flicked to a scientist speaking directly to the camera, or rather, the former president.

"I suggest the development of a second facility, in case something goes wrong, a large one, in which the infrastructure would be capable of withstanding an enormous blast. And also equipped to house a number of test subjects. The nature of this project is such that I believe only a very select few should even know of the existence of the building and the subjects never to leave it."

The video ended, Reno clicked on the next. The scientist was much older and Reno recognized the panelling behind him. He was in Cole's building.

"Sir I am happy to announce our first successful experiment. The subject unfortunately endured several failed tests, but he survived the last." The scientist moved away and revealed a man strapped to a table. He was younger, and missing that scar, but there was no doubt. Reno was staring at Charles Cole.

"He will revert to normal if he does not get follow up dosages. I believe it would be best to dispose of him as soon as the initial dose wheres off as he could be quite dangerous, for obvious reasons. And one final suggestion, sir, now that we have a safe refining process, I suggest separating the final step. If someone where ever to take over this facility, they would gain enormous power. Therefore, I suggest relocating the equipment for the final process back to the mansion to be safer."

The video went to black. Reno sat back. So Cole was the product of project Achilles, a major undertaking, but he still wasn't sure he knew what Achilles was. What he did know for certain was that Rufus had been researching it for a year. He'd known the building was out there, he probably knew Cole was in it, the only thing he hadn't known was where it was.

And then the darkest realization of all hit Reno. He hadn't known where the building was until he'd gotten a man on the inside. Rufus had sent them on that job the day of the ambush. Rufus had inexplicably been the one to answer his call when that was the job of a Turk. Rufus had kept telling him to move forward for help when he'd jumped straight into Cole's man on that roof. If Cole hadn't taken Reno, Rufus never would have located that building, never would have had the personal intel Reno brought back.

"I'm going to be sick." Reno breathed to himself, pushing the laptop back and clutching his stomach. "He used me like a pawn to get information." On what? What exactly was project Achilles? Rufus knew, he had to, he had gone to these lengths to find it. Reno turned back to the computer and continued through the files but he didn't have to get far. There was one final video, one last image of that scientist standing over Cole's tortured body.

"Sir, we have discovered it's power. It's even greater than we imagined. Sir, we have discovered immortality."

* * *

_**Fewf, long chapter but I wanted to advance the plot and it just took me a while to do it! To address some questions about setting, etc: In terms of the FFVII story line I don't know just where this would fall, the story exclusively involves the Turks and felt a bit like it's own bubble of time for me as I was writing it, but in terms of Shinra still being there, I guess it is pre-Advent Children. As for Materia and Potions, I didn't write those into this plot either, they just did not jive with what I was trying to create here. Thanks to all the reviews, and Chibi Heishi made some excellent points about Reno's condition, I am afraid I am not so knowledgeable about the medical implications of everything so I will just do my best!**_

_**Thanks again,**_

_**Riza**_


	7. Chapter 7

"How long has he been missing?" Tseng asked Elena in the doorway to Reno's room.

"About eight hours. He told me he was going for a walk."

"Have you called Nora?"

"Yeah, no sign of him."

"Great."

"Sir, I'll take care of it, you concentrate on investigating this Achilles project."

"Find him."

"Yes sir."

* * *

Reno blinked back his exhaustion and continued to read through the files. It had taken him some time to calm down after he'd gone through the files the first time. But then he'd realized he'd pushed his luck staying in his room. If Rufus found out what he'd done, it would be easy to track him down, so he had come here, as a quick means of cover: a supply closet. Cleaning staff only worked days in this part of the mansion so he would be safe for several hours to go through all the files he'd copied in length.

He'd discovered much, including Coles' demands. He had the substance, hidden where he swore Rufus would never find it. Rufus had the refining facility. There was no mention of the combination code to the facility Elena had found so Reno wasn't sure if either man had it. Their bargaining went back and forth, neither willing to concede on any matter, each, in essence, wanting to destroy the other. Neither wanted to share this power, but neither could attack the other with certainty of winning and not destroying what they needed for Achilles.

Reno read of Cole saying he would let Reno go if Rufus let him use the facility. But Rufus was right, no one could really believe Rufus would give in to his demands just for one man, but he had been distracted, he had spent hours glued to his monitor instead of figuring out what to do about this whole situation. And those four videos sent to Tseng had given the Turks something to do other than wonder about the President's dealings.

And Reno had figured out the tunnel. Cole would have used it to infiltrate Shinra, so Rufus had been forced to have it destroyed. As a Turk, he understood this, and could forgive this. But no where in all of his reading could he find evidence against his suspicions that Rufus had used himself to get a man inside Cole's organization. He could not stop going over that day he'd failed to escape, Rufus' voice guiding him on the other end of the phone.

Something else Reno had discovered was that negotiations hadn't stopped since his escape. There had been a few days hiatus in their communication, but then the emails started up again and Cole was boasting that even though Rufus had found his facility, Cole's men had driven him back and he was too scared to try anything again. He taunted that if Rufus launched a large enough assault against Cole, it would leave this mansion unprotected enough that Cole's men could infiltrate and get the substance into that lab and through the final process.

And that was really where they were at a standstill.

Even with such a threat, Cole would be the one taking the greatest risk in attacking. If he managed to get men inside with the substance, Shinra could just capture them and get the substance for themselves. The only way to be sure would be to completely overrun the building and secure it. Both men were in a difficult position but neither was willing to admit that.

Reno sighed loud and then covered his mouth hearing people walking by. But he could read the desperation, the impatience in these letters. Someone was going to try a big offensive soon. In any case, it was not good news for any of them.

He thought it was time to tell Tseng.

Reno stood up and reached for the handle but the door suddenly swung wide and he blinked in the light.

"Shit." Reno breathed out starring at the President's calm face.

"I reversed your trace, Reno. You were sloppy."

"Still, I got what I needed." Reno answered back steadily.

"And what do you plan to do with it?"

"It's time to tell the Turks."

"That's what I was afraid you'd say." He took a step back and a couple of his men moved forward. "Please join me in my office, Reno."

* * *

Reno followed the men up to the President's office. He sat in his usual chair and Rufus dismissed them.

"Don't want them overhearing?"

"I don't want anyone overhearing, Reno."

"So what if you knew about Cole and Achilles?" Reno tried to sound as cavalier as possible. "What does it really matter to anyone? You're the President, we follow your orders."

"Reno, you aren't looking at me again." It was true, the red head had his gazed fixed firmly on the windows.

"This is huge boss, immortality- no one with argue that Shinra should control it."

"Reno don't ignore me. Look at me."

"I'd rather not."

Rufus stood up and Reno sighed as he moved into his line of sight. He met the President's gaze.

"That's what I thought. You truly hate me, don't you? You read those files and you came to one conclusion."

Reno's eyes narrowed.

"So you admit that you used me."

"No."

Reno stood up so fast he chair flew backwards and crashed against the floor. His green eyes blazed with furry and his hands clenched into fists.

"YOU BASTARD! You set us up on that mission so we'd get caught. You talked me through my escape when you must have known they had gotten ahead of me. You _wanted_ me to get caught so you could find out where that building was, so you could find immortality. But you failed. You weren't able to follow them back so you had to wait for me to escape. But I couldn't! No matter what I tried I couldn't escape that Hell and it was Rude, who did it in the end, who found me. He found your stupid project Achilles and he ended up with three bullets in him. You knew about Cole for a year, knew he was a huge threat just waiting for us out there and you never told us. You selfish, greedy bastard used us as bait."

Reno could feel his chest burning, his heart pounding. He grabbed the edge of Rufus' desk for support. The President took a step forward but Reno raised a hand.

"STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!"

Rufus lowered the hand he had tried to steady him with. "Reno, I didn't know you would get ambushed that day. I didn't want you to get captured and I certainly didn't arrange for you to be captured. But yes, Reno, for maybe all of ten seconds, when it happened I couldn't help think that finally I would find that building, because if anyone could escape it would be you."

"But I couldn't, Rufus! How the hell can you stand there so calmly when you are the only one who saw what they did to me? Every single fucking day Rufus! I couldn't escape! Rude saved me and he nearly died for it." He began to cough, the exertion was getting to him, he felt his knees shaking.

"And this is why I can't tell the Turks: because no matter what I did, the situation is straight forward, it's going to be us or Cole that comes out of this. That's what I need my men to focus on. If the Turks knew the truth, they'd be distracted, and we could all go down."

"They deserve to know. It could have been anyone of them that you used. Imagine Elena in that place? Imagine what all those men would have done to a woman. But you would have been okay with it."

"Of course not."

"Did you pick me then, because you knew I could survive?"

"I didn't pick anyone Reno, I've already told you I didn't intend for you to get caught."

"I don't believe you."

"It doesn't matter anymore." The door opened and Reno saw three guards enter.

"What are you going to do to me?"

"Nothing Reno, just calm down." But of course Reno couldn't. He backed away from the President, but he could hardly stand now. He was trapped, and that feeling was one he could no longer stand. Men had come for him every day in that place, and now they were coming for him here. He fell against the wall, gripping a shelf to stay upright but his vision was blurring between that time and now.

"Don't hurt him, I just need to take him back to the medical wing." Rufus's voice was far away. And then someone had their hands around him.

"NO!" He flung himself off that wall and into the man, barrelling him over. He tried to stand but the other two got him pinned. He screamed out against them, feeling the carpet below him one instant and the next feeling and smelling that terrible cell.

More people entered the room. Someone clamped their hand over his mouth.

"What's happening?" Tseng's startled voice snapped Reno back. He strained to see the Director, he screamed against the man's palm over his mouth unit Tseng met his eyes.

"He's having a flashback again." Rufus explained calmly. "I've already sent for the doctor."

"Was he hyperventilating?" Tseng asked, noting the hand over his mouth.

"Yes but we just can't get him to calm down."

Reno was struggling as much as his damaged body would allow. His eyes screamed to Tseng for help, to not let this happen, to see past the President's lies, but the Director just accepted his explanation and watched sadly as the doctor leaned over Reno and injected him with a sedative. His vision blurred, the room began to get dark, and a single tear slid down the side of his face.

* * *

"Director, I just heard the news."

Elena stood out of breath in his office doorway but she was smiling broadly. He knew she was not talking about Reno.

"What news?"

"Rude's awake and he has full feeling in his legs. Nora thinks he could try walking in a matter of days. He could be released in a few weeks."

Tseng tried to smile, tried to be happy, but nothing came out, no words, no smile. Elena stepped forward and shut the door.

"What?"

"Elena, this Achilles project we uncovered, I think it's dangerous."

"Of course it is, everything we do is dangerous."

"No, Elena. I think us working to uncover it behind the President's back is dangerous."

"What, why? He knows we're looking into Reno's intelligence."

"Yes. But I've had the feeling for a while that both he and Reno were hiding something from us. And now..." He took a breath, "I think I just witnessed the President covering his tracks in a big way."

"Why, what happened?"

"Elena, until Rude is better it's just you and I from now on. We need to be honest with one another and we have to be _very_ careful."

"Sir, what happened?"

"I went to update the President. Reno was on the floor with three men restraining him when I entered the office. They had his mouth covered, said he was having a flashback and hyperventilating. But I was there that first time, I know what he was like, he wasn't there with us, he was back in that place. But just now, he heard my voice, he stared at me, he was begging me to help him. He wasn't having a flashback. He's found something out the President doesn't want us to know."

Elena had her mouth covered but whispered past her hand. "What did they do to him?"

"Sedated him and took him to the medical wing. I don't think the President would hurt him, but I am betting if we tried to go see him they will tell us he's in quarantine."

"To keep him from talking to us. To keep him locked up."

"Essentially."

"So what do we do?"

"We go along with it until he know what Reno knows. Then we decide."

Elena took a shaky breath but nodded. "Okay."


	8. Chapter 8

**Three Weeks later.**

Reno puked for what must have been the fourth time since waking. His whole body was covered in sweat and trembled as he clutched the side of the toilet bowl. He heard the chime of the auto-lock and his room door open. He grit his teeth and clutched the toilet bowl harder.

"I'm supposed to be on quarantine, I thought that meant I couldn't have visitors." He growled out but began to vomit again.

Rufus stood just outside the bathroom.

"It's bad again?"

"It's been bad ever since you locked me away in here." He rested his head against the edge of the toilet bowl, trying to catch his breath. Almost every morning began like this, without fail, memories of his time in Cole's care haunted him more than ever now that he had nothing to investigate, no distractions and no friends to talk to. Other than Dr. Smith, his only visitor was Rufus.

"I know you hate me Reno—"

"Damn straight."

Rufus sighed, "You know you hacked into my personal files. I could have been alot harder on you."

"Oh well thank-you so much for your mercy, Mr. President." His stomach lurched again. Rufus moved to the doorway.

"Should I call the doctor?" It was one of those rare times when the President let slip a bit of guilt into his voice. To Rufus's utter surprise, Reno's response was to burst into tears. He didn't really know what to do as the thin red head leaned against the toilet sobbing.

"Reno, what do you need?"

"I need to get out of here." He sobbed, not looking up, his voice echoing off the tiled floor. "I'm going to die in this place."

"Reno, I'm sorry that circumstances led me to put you here, but you are safe, you've actually gotten healthier since you've been here."

"No, Rufus, I am going to die here because I _am _dying. Just because the pneumonia is gone, just because my immune system is better, there is nothing to change the fact my heart is failing day by day and that I am spending my last days in here." He pulled his knees up to his face, his next words soft. "And the doctor told me Rude was released yesterday. I haven't even seen him since he woke up. I wanted to be there for him, after everything he did for me."

"You little bastard." Rufus breathed and Reno stiffened. "You're playing on my guilt, trying to get me to let you out of here."

Reno's shoulders stopped shaking. His breath evened out. "It's all true." He said calmly. "I shouldn't have to cry to make you realize that."

Rufus sighed and turned his back on the bathroom. "I can see today's visit will be unproductive. I wanted to update you on Cole's latest message but that can wait until you're feeling less self pity." Reno stood up as the President made his exit. Just before the security doors shut, however, he turned back to say one last thing.

"Oh and Reno, you aren't going to die, because when I finally get Achilles in my hand, you're the first person I'm going to inject."

The doors shut, Reno stared after Rufus for a long time. There were too many emotion in him at the moment and he felt the hot streaks forming on his cheeks. These tears weren't for show.

* * *

"You know you can't get in there." A soft voice spoke behind Rude and he turned to see Nora. "Neither can I."

"I don't understand what's going on." Rude said. "Why can't I go see him if I go through decontamination?"

Nora gripped his hand. "Have you spoken to Tseng?"

"Not much since I woke up. He told me to focus on my recovery."

"And I thank him for that. In fact, I made Reno promise me not to get you involved, but I think things are getting serious; I think you need to go see the Turks."

Rude stared are Nora wide eyed. She never pushed for him to go to work, to do anything dangerous, and what could she know about the Turks? Why had she gotten involved in? But Nora smiled and put on a cheery voice.

"Okay sweetheart?" He heard the footsteps behind him and smiled back at her.

"Okay." He leaned down and gave her a kiss and then acted surprised to see Dr. Smith. "How is Reno?"

"I'm just going to see him." He said dismissively and went toward the decontamination room.

As soon as he was gone Rude leaned closer to his girlfriend. "What are you involved in Nora?"

"Just talk to Tseng."

He pulled her close again. "Okay," he whispered into her hair and gave her another kiss before pulling away and heading toward the Turk offices.

* * *

"Reno." Dr. Smith sighed, seeing the figure in the bed still unmoving. It had been two days since Rufus's visit and Reno seemed to have hit an emotional decline. "Rufus wants you to see the therapist." Reno said nothing, just lay there. "Reno, I know you don't like me, but I really have acted in your best interest."

As he drew closer he noticed Reno's eyes were shut and his breathing shallow.

"Reno?"

He reached out and tried to check his pulse.

Dr. Smith was on the floor before he even realized what had happened. He looked up past the white scrubs to see Reno's blazing eyes.

"Reno?"

"Sorry Doc. Guess you were right after all, I have healed alot faster in quarantine, but now I have some business to attend to." He had the doctor pinned by the way he held his arm and his quick fingers pried the security key off his lab coat. "You won't be able to get out without this, enjoy your stay."

He let Smith go and ran to the door. The doctor had no hope of catching him and by the time he got to his feet the red head was gone.

"Crap."

* * *

A lab coat here. A pair of glasses there. A stethoscope and a clip board to hold around his face. Reno worked his way out of the medical wing, praying no one would look down and see his bare feet. But someone with sharper eyes than most stopped and fell into line beside him.

"Doctor, I didn't know you were working today." Nora said softly, and leaned over as if to look at the contents of his clipboard.

"You know, I really couldn't wait another day to hear about your prized patient."

"Ah, I just sent him to see the Director, perhaps you should follow him."

"Yes, I think that's a good plan, say, do you think you could try to stop anyone heading to the quarantine room? I think Dr. Smith needs some alone time with his patient."

"I will do what I can. Good luck."

They parted ways, and Reno made it out the doors. From there, it was easy for someone who knew the layout of the building. Unfortunately, this meant no elevators and lots of stairs, not so easy for someone with a failing heart. He fell at the top of a set and knelt there just breathing. He swore, wishing he'd asked Nora to get Rude to meet him somewhere easier to reach. Only five more flights. He had to do this. He grabbed the rail and pulled himself up again. The pain in his chest was nearly overwhelming, but he looked up the stairs with determination. At the next level, however, he thought he was going to faint and fell against the wall, sliding to the ground.

"Dammit." He thought. "Three weeks of waiting to escape only to be defeated by a set of stairs." A door banged open above him. He reached for the rail again but it was too late, he was caught.

"Reno." Reno's desperate eyes shot up at the voice and soon he saw those shiny black shoes and followed them up the dark suit to that bald head. Everything in him screamed in thankfulness but his voice was lost by his struggle just to breath.

"Shit, Reno, you look terrible, come here." He reached under Reno's arms but the other protested as much as he could.

"But your back." he croaked out.

"I'm fine, Nora made sure of that. And she just called me to say you were on your way. What the Hell have you gotten yourself into since I've been out?" He looked at Reno but the other clearly couldn't answer. "Nevermind, tell me after I get you somewhere safe." He didn't say anything more but swung Reno's arm over his shoulder and hauled him to his feet. He was able to carry on with Rude's help and they turned back down the stairs. Rude lead them out a couple of floors down and through the least used hallways. It occurred to Reno that this was very much like the last time he's spoken to Rude, almost two months ago now.

"Here we are."

Reno noted they were in a wing of apartments, not Turk, maybe the engineering wing. Rude slid a key in the lock and they went in.

"You found him." Elena breathed, taking Reno's other side and the two of them set him on the bed. It was a small apartment, furnished, but clearly no longer in use. A moment later the door opened again and Tseng appeared.

"Good, everyone is here." He watched out the spy hole for a moment and then joined them. "I tripped a five minute blackout on the security system, I think we're clear. Even if they suspect we are using an empty apartment, there are dozens of them, it would take time to search." Then he noted Reno's condition.

"What's happening?"

Reno was wheezing now, his chest was killing him.

"You're heart?" Rude asked. Reno's eyes flashed, Nora had told him. But then the agreement had been until he was better. He just nodded. Rude eased him back on the bare mattress. It took a few minutes for the worst of it to pass, and even after Reno felt a great deal of pain, but he needed to tell them everything while he could.

"Sit me up, Rude." His partner pulled him up and helped Reno get propped against the wall. He groaned in pain and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, but then he swallowed and faced them again. The other three sat on the edge of the bed and he began his explanation. They reacted to the many secrets he revealed but never spoke, they knew as well as he that he needed to get this all out now. He concluded with his suspicions about Rufus's role in their ambush and Reno's capture, and explained that the President had continued to visit him and discuss his conversations with Cole, but they had never revisited the accusation.

"Honestly, I'm not sure at exactly what point Rufus decided to use me as a way to get intel, it may have been premeditated, or it could be like he said, and the opportunity simply arose. But I do know this, you cannot get distracted over it. It's the reason he's kept me in quarantine the whole time. That and the video feed."

"The video feed?"

Reno nodded solemnly, "Rufus had a live video feed of my torture- all of my torture. And several live discussion with Cole."

Elena slammed her fist into the mattress. "Again, you cannot get distracted or you'll just prove him right. Right now what is important is protecting ourselves from Cole. Rufus has been using a pyramid scheme to beef up security and gather intel. Everyone is working on such specific tasks they don't realize that, as a whole, they are practically preparing for war."

Tseng had remained silent the whole time. Everyone took a moment to absorb everything. There was no hiding their anger toward Rufus, but Tseng was all calm and professional when he spoke.

"Immortality is a dangerous concept. Rufus didn't want that to get public, but he should have trusted us. Reno, he betrayed you, no matter what he decided on the rooftop that day, he should have shown me the feed, and he knows it. He squandered a chance to find clues to saving you just so we wouldn't find out about Achilles. And now we are in danger. But we have to push all of those emotions aside and do our job."

"Seriously, sir?" Elena said but Tseng struck her with a piercing gaze.

"Yes, Elena. Cole is insane. We cannot let him near something so powerful as immortality."  
"But isn't he already immortal, isn't that what you saw, Reno?" Elena asked.

"They said they wouldn't give him any more doses. That must mean it wears off or you need to keep taking it or something. And he's aged. I think he's normal." Reno answered.

"He's not normal, he's an evil bastard, and whatever happens we need to keep him away from you." Rude spoke, looking hard at Reno.

"Rude, you can't seriously think I'm not seeing this thing through."

There were many reasons Rude could have argued this statement. His physical condition was, of course, the number one, or his emotions, or his mental state, but that was not what Rude meant. "Cole hates you. He didn't act like a leader that night I rescued you. He wasn't thinking with strategy when he shot me. Like he said, two is better than one when it comes to torture, and yet he threw that chance away immediately just to hurt you as much as he could. I don't know why, but he hates you so much it blinds him and who knows what could happen with all of this going down."

Reno had listened to him intently. He hadn't spoken at all of that time, he had barely even described Cole to the others, but Rude had seen in those few seconds, a hatred born of weeks of Reno's resistance. Rude was exactly right, it was an irrational anger toward one who had done nothing but suffer at his hands. But Reno had failed to do the one thing Cole ever wanted of him.

"He said he never broke me. I continued to defy him and so he continued to torture me. He said he didn't even need me to distract Rufus anymore except that if he stopped, the President would see his failure in breaking me. And he said he would not let me die until it happened."

Reno had dropped his gaze from the others, but he took a breath and looked back at them. "But we could use that to our advantage. You put me in front of him and he's going to be distracted."

"Reno-" but whatever Tseng was going to say was cut off when the door burst open. They were caught, but one look told Rufus everything was now out in the open. His gaze turned to Reno.

"Take him back the medical wing," his men stepped forward but the Turks stood in their way.

"Not to lock him up," Rufus sighed, "you three haven't seen him for three weeks, I have, and I haven't seen him look this bad that whole, time." There was no hiding that truth, Reno was clearly still in pain and his face was discoloured his lips purple, bordering on blue and it looked like he had bruises under his eyes. They relented and let them take him.  
"You three can meet me in my office. It seems we now have much to discuss."

* * *

Somewhere in transit, Reno's chest pain grew unbearably and they had to be met by a stretcher. It felt like someone was pressing down on it, and the pressure grew so much the world began to spin and he fainted.

He woke sometime later, in familiar settings, though not in quarantine this time. He tried to move but weakness wracked him. He felt, in short, awful.

"Damn stairs." he whispered in the silence but someone heard and moved to his side. He hadn't noticed him sitting there.

"Reno stay still, you need to rest." Rude instructed. "I'll call Nora."

He stepped out into the hall and then returned.

"What happened?" Reno managed.

"Reno...you had a heart attack."

The red head nodded. "I felt like this before." he remembered those two days int he clinic back at Cole's. "This isn't my first."

He stopped talking so he could just breath. The door opened and Nora came in, Rude conveyed what Reno had said, confirming what she already suspected.

"Fortunately we were able to treat you right away." She explained. "The pain and weakness should pass in a couple of days."

"..But?" Reno wheezed.

"Your heart won't last more than a few weeks Reno." Rude gripped the side of the bed hard, and Nora slipped her arm around his waist while she reached out and took Reno's hand with the other. "The medication I've prescribed you should prevent any pain and give you the longest time possible. I'm so sorry, Reno."

"Don't be Nora." He looked like he wanted to say more but didn't. The couple stood at his side until he fell asleep again.

* * *

"By now Cole knows the tunnel is destroyed. So we are going to reopen it enough to send a small squad in to infiltrate. Our first objective is to locate their information on Achilles, including the code of the facility here, and the location of the unrefined Achilles substance. Our second objective is to kill Charles Cole."

Tseng addressed the room of his most trusted Turks and top SOLDIER. Rufus sat next to him. The arguments and anger would have to wait, the concern for Reno had to be pushed aside. They needed to move now before Cole did.

"How small an infiltration group?" Rude inquired.

"Six. Rude I'm going to ask you to remain here as you have just recovered from severe injuries."

"Sir, I think you need me on this and I am the only one who has been in there before."

"My decision is final, Rude." Tseng then listed those who would go, two members of SOLDIER and four Turks, including himself and Elena. He outlined their plan and then everyone broke up to get started on preparations. Rude didn't rise right away, clearly still angry and the President looked across the table to him.

"If we do this right, Rude, we can save him."

Rude said nothing. The President stood but Rude spoke before he could leave.

"If you'd done this right in the first place, we wouldn't have to." Rufus didn't turn back. He left and shut the door.

* * *

_**Big action to come! Thanks for the reviews everyone!**_

_**Riza**_


	9. Chapter 9

"What are you doing dressed like that?" Reno looked up from his closet, he was just shutting the doors, fully dressed in his Turk uniform and saw Nora's disapproving look.

"Hey, just because I ain't going with them, doesn't mean I can't help, and I'm not doing Turk work dressed any other well. Hell, they better bury me in this thing if things go South."

"You're obsessed," She grabbed the wheel chair parked by the door and brought it over to him. He was standing without help, but she insisted he use the chair to go any distance and save any strain on his heart.

"Whatever. So you tagging along?"

"Yes. In case you get worked up."

"You finally get to see us on the job."

"Reno, I have patched you all up after many missions, I know what the job is, now come on, Rude's already there."

They met up with Rude, Rufus and a number of other technicians who were going to walk through the mission with the six every step of the way. They had cameras and audio so their every move could be analyzed and advisement given if needed.

The trip through the tunnel was relatively easy. A group of SOLDIER accompanied them and they had a small vehicle to travel the length of the tunnel since it was so long. The SOLDIERs waited at the entrance, just in case Cole discovered their point of entry and tried to break into Shinra that way. They had expected a few guards at the entrance but they were removed easily and the SOLDIERs took their uniforms to cover that post. The six moved on alone from there.

Things went quite smoothly, really. Reno sat between Rude and Nora watching everything through Elena's camera mounted on a pair of eye glasses she wore. They watched the back of Tseng's head as he moved efficiently down the building. They were using the same staircase Reno and Rude had taken to escape and every few flights paused to check the floor, but like Reno had suspected, they were all empty. When they drew nearer to the populated levels, they went to the elevators. This was a stealth mission that was going to take place in plain sight. They all wore disguises based on Reno's intel and their surveillance.

They made it into the heart of Cole's facility and into the hustle and bustle of hard working people. It was truly amazing the level of sophistication of his organization, its size and strength. And so was the moment it all went wrong.

Reno didn't really see what happened on Tseng's end, because their own room erupted in smoke and gunfire and he was toppled to the floor. He reached for Nora and she reached for him and above them Rude was firing relentlessly. After a moment, the room fell silent, Rude was still standing and ran to shut the door. He leaned against it when he realized the lock was busted.

"Mr. President are you okay?" Rufus was clutching his shoulder, blood squeezing between his fingers, but he could survive that. "Everyone else?" The smoke- most likely from a smoke grenade- was dissipating and they could see that some of the advisers were dead. Nora shook herself and sat up, finding no injuries on herself or Reno.

"I'm fine, see to the others."

"No." Rude instructed, looking to the bodies on the floor of the men he'd killed: they were SOLDIER. "We need to move, now."

"Holy crap, are they Cole's men?" Reno breathed.

"No." Rude knelt and pulled the mask off. "I know this man. He's been with us for a long time."

"Shit. Cloning, Rude. They had clones."

"Very good Reno." The voice cracked over a broken monitor. Reno froze, recognizing the distorted voice. He looked up at Elena's monitor. It was cracked, but he could still make out the images. Cole was looking straight at him through Elena's lenses. "We may not be able to harness immortality with unrefined Achilles, but we did discover how to copie cells. We injured many soldiers that day on the rooftop, you remember Reno. It was easy to collect enough cells to reproduce a few mindless drones. Our own little army inside Shinra. And in the tunnel, I might add."

"You bastard." Reno heard Elena's voice behind Cole. So she at least was still alive.

"No need for name calling just because I outsmarted you," Cole smiled into the camera. "Now then, don't resist, Reno, President Shinra. My forces will be with you shortly and we can finally end this little game." The camera went dead. Reno realized he'd been holding his breath and started gasping in air.

"We have to move, now." Rude instructed. Nora nodded and righted Reno's chair. She got him in it and Rude pulled Rufus to his feet. "Can you walk on your own?"

"Yes, it's just a graze."

"Okay, let's go." but before he opened the door, Rude fished the guns from the SOLDIERs' hands and gave one to each of them. "Alright, everyone stay close."

The halls were also smoke filled. Cole must have had a number of men in the building. Reno clutched his gun tight and scanned every inch of each hall they raced through, waiting to drop anyone who looked threatening. But it was mostly Rude who cleared their way. A couple of times they nearly had a fire fight with their own men, not knowing which SOLDIERs were corrupt, but these ones quickly lowered their weapons when they saw the President and joined them. Their group now a bit stronger, they made it clear to the President's office, the most secure room in the building.

"Now, let me take a look at that shoulder." Nora pulled Rufus' coat back and began to bind the wound with what supplies she could find.

"We're sitting ducks up here." one of the SOLDIERs breathed.

"No we aren't. I'm the President, I have a private escape route." Rufus nodded to the SOLDIER to open his closet. He quickly found a narrow stairwell leading down.

"It will take us to the helipad. Reno, you think you can get us off the ground?"

"Of course. But what about the facility?"

"He can't get in without the code."

"How can we be sure he doesn't have it?"

"Because I do." Reno's eyes widened then narrowed in anger. Just one more secret Rufus had kept from them.

"Fine, let's go."

They moved as quickly as they could down the stairs. They were so narrow they had to go one at a time, Rude went ahead of Reno allowing his partner to hold his shoulders for support. But everyone was able to keep up. Nora and Rufus went in the middle and the SOLDIERS covered their rear. They felt a rumble above and guessed the President's office had been taken over. Someone shouted to move faster and then they were in sunlight. The sudden change of light made Reno blink and stumble, but a gloved hand grabbed his arm and steered him toward the chopper.

"Get the President to safety," the SOLDIERs ordered, knowing there wasn't enough room for them all in the chopper. There was no time for arguments, Rude hoisted Rufus and Nora up while Reno strapped into the pilot's chair. If it wasn't such dire circumstances, this would have felt good.

"All set?" he called back. Rude moved to the front and strapped in next to him. "Yeah," he pulled his head set on, "let's get out of here."

Reno flicked a few switches, engines whirred, the helicopter began to lift off the ground.

"Where are we going?" Reno asked.

"Not far." Reno caught the tone in Rude's voice and looked to him panicked. He followed his gaze back out of the chopper to the rooftop. The SOLDIERs were trying to defend them, but someone was kneeling with a rocket-launcher on his shoulder.

"Oh shit."

He wasn't high enough to pivot or evade, the best they could do was abandon their seats and run for the back.

Reno didn't know who grabbed who, but the two Turks lunged on Nora and Rufus and then all of them were rolling sideways out the open door. There was a wave of heat, a sensation of weightlessness and then the harsh jolt of striking tarmac. Reno tasted copper and felt a sharp pain in his arm, but his head was resting against something relatively soft. He painfully moved off of the body who had softened his impact.

"Crap, Rufus." He looked over the President. His breathing was strangled, blood pooling around his head. Reno reached with a shaking hand to check his pulse. "Rufus please." A hand shot up and gripped Reno round the collar. Reno gasped and fell forward against Rufus again.

"Sir.."

"0145683215." he hissed the numbers out so low Reno wasn't even sure he caught them all but there was no doubting their significance. Rufus let him go and fell back, unmoving.

Reno glanced sideways, Rude was struggling to get up, his arms were wrapped around Nora but she had still hit hard, one leg sticking out at an odd angle. Rude cradled her head and she fought to contain the pain and tears.

"Rufus?" Rude asked, ignoring the thundering of boots on pavement- they were caught, there was nothing to be done now. Reno reached past his collar. "He has a pulse but this looks bad."

They were encircled. Reno glanced over at Rude, his partner was staring right back at him. Nora held onto Rude's arm tightly but her watery eyes were also on Reno.

"You have a gun?" Reno asked, his own lost in the fall.

"Reno, I can't." he said looking down a Nora.

"Rude," Nora gasped out, "if torture is the alternative..."

But the choice was taken out of their hands. Men rushed forward and disarmed Rude. Reno was pulled off of Rufus and the doctor bent over him. Reno was already starting to feel a stirring in his gut just seeing his familiar face.

"He's still alive, but there could be brain damage." the doctor looked up, the men parted for their leader.

"It no longer matters." His gaze locked on Reno and the red head felt his chest clench. "Reno has what we need."

He took a step forward. Everything left Reno's mind except his fight-or-flight reaction. He knew he couldn't beat Cole. He leaped of the ground and tried to run the other way. Someone floored him. He fell back and rolled over the tarmac and someone's foot landed on his back, pinning him face down. His breaths came in sharp panicked inhalations, that terrible pain in his chest like that day in the bathroom returned fast and intense.

"Reno!" He heard Nora's cry and guiltily realized he had just tried to run away from his friends. He tried to calm down his breathing but couldn't. A pair of black shoes stopped before his eyes and and he recognized the charcoal hem of his pants.

"Ah, Reno." Cole squatted down and gripped his hair, forcing his head back enough to make him look him in the face. "Glad to see I've made a lasting impression on you."

He let go of Reno's hair and his head snapped back against the hard ground, scraping his face and he felt a tooth punctured his lip.

"He's had a heart attack," Nora spoke up, "he can't take this, he'll die."

"Oh really? And who are you to speak for him?"

"His doctor."

"Okay then, make him stop doing that," he ordered, referring to Reno's hyperventilating. Nora struggled up to a sitting position and Rude tried to help her but a gun was directed at his head. "Not you, just her. Besides, I thought I already killed you."

No one responded, everyone just watched Nora struggle to move over to Reno. She couldn't help the cries of pain from her broken leg, but she made it to his side. Just like before, she closed a hand over his mouth and one nostril. "Just look at me Reno."

She tried to sound soothing but her own breath was ragged and her eyes welling up with tears. A few fell down onto Reno's face. "I'm sorry," she whispered. Her gorgeous brown eyes were growing red. They had always shone confident and intelligent but now they were filled with pain, filled with fear and horror. She shouldn't be here. She shouldn't be in this horrible position but her love for her Turks had brought her to this awful place.

His breath had calmed without him even realizing. Nora sat back and smiled past her tears.

"There you go."

Cole stepped over her. "Thank you."

The click of the gun and the thunder of the shot went through Reno's body like a bolt of lightening. Nora's eyes widened in shock and she collapsed forward onto him.

"Oh Gaia no!" he cried catching her, holding her. Blood was gushing out her shoulder. In the back of his mind the hopeful thought that she could survive this was instantly eclipsed by the horror that that is what Cole intended. Another bang rocked him and the poor woman in his arms screamed. Cole had shot through her ankle. Nora's breathing was an intermingling of gasps of horror and pain. He looked up at the man he hated most in this world and pleaded.

"Stop, please stop."

"I don't know Reno, you have defied me for so long, I figured it would take alot to get you to do what I want."

He raised his gun again. Rude, who had been restrained the moment Nora was shot, lurched as the bullet lodged in his gut. The men holding him dropped him and he fell forward, trying to hold back the cry.

"STOP!" Reno screamed.

"Why? What will you do for me? Will you give me that code?"

Reno looked at Rude and hesitated.

"Bring me the others."

Reno glanced up and realized he must mean Tseng and Elena and their team. He continued to hold Nora and stare at Rude. He didn't know what to do. He was frozen.

"I think you need proper incentive."

Elena fell to her knees a few feet from him and the director was forced down next to her. Both were already in rough shape.  
"I know you don't value your own life, Reno," Cole said, reaching inside his jacket. He pulled out a long knife, one Reno recognized and had felt the burn of multiple times, "but you do value theirs, don't you?" Elena screamed, the blade fell deep in her back, right along her spine. "It will take some time for her to bleed out, and even if you could save her, she'll never walk again." He jerked the blade harshly inside her and pulled it out again. She fell forward, unconscious.

"And Mr. Director here," the blade moved faster than anyone could see. Tseng's hands shot to his throat. "has even less time before he bleeds to death. So let's see, Reno? How many friends do you have left? Ah, none, unless you give me that code and I share a dose with each of them. I am a generous person, I have no problem giving them enough so that they can live. But it's up to you Reno. Will you let your friends die just to stop me?"

Reno stared at the carnage around him, choked on the pain welling up inside him. This couldn't be happening. Everyone he loved was going to die before him, all because of one man. He felt Nora's laboured breathing against him. She was bleeding too much, she wouldn't make it either. Rude's eyes were dimming, Tseng was gurgling helplessly next to the immobile Elena.

"Yes." He whispered. "Yes I will give you the code."

"Good." Cole holstered his gun and nodded. Someone grabbed Reno and pulled him to his feet, forcing him to let go of Nora. He looked at Rude, at Tseng, he tried to apologize, but they were dragging him away in the other direction, "You are coming with me."

* * *

**_Thanks for the reviews dear readers! Stay tuned for more soon!_**

**_Riza_**


	10. Chapter 10

Reno led them to the secret facility. They quickly looked over the chamber with the rounded walls but the real room they needed to find was the one above. "Up here." Reno struggled up the ladder. He thought his arm might be fractured, but that pain was distant compared to what he'd just endured. All he wanted to do was to get that serum and save his friends.

"It's an amazing feeling." Cole said behind him. Reno had gotten up the ladder but was having troubling standing again. Cole put his arms under him and pulled him up. "The power in Achilles. It doesn't just heal you, it makes you so alive, so strong. But then it fades, and all you can ever think of is getting that feeling back. You never feel strong again, never feel truly alive." He propped Reno up next to the key pad. "Put in the code. And don't get it wrong."

Reno's hand was shaking but he reached out and touched the dusty keys. He had only just heard the numbers, but they had seared into his brain the moment Rufus spoke them. He put them in without hesitation. There was a slow ticking sound, as if the door was considering whether or not to open, then with a loud hiss the metal panel slid back and a cloud of ancient air blew past them.

"Good work." Cole said, dragging Reno inside with him. Behind them, a number of guards and doctors filed in. It seemed they already knew what to do, and someone opened a large case of the golden substance and began pouring it into an opening.

"The tubes lead down to the room below?" Reno asked. "And that's where it is refined?"

"Yes." Cole answered. He let go of Reno and let him lean back on a pipe. This room was small and unfinished looking, but there was a blinking console and that was where Cole was headed. He flicked a switch and began scrolling through screens and punching buttons.

"I take it there were instructions in your building?" Reno continued.

"Yes. That and the substance."

"Where did all your people come from?"

"Some were already there, poor victims just like me, forgotten in cryogenic tanks. A terrible fate, but I liberated them and they were thankful."

"Thankful enough to let you experiment on them. Make clones of them."

"Yes, thankful enough even for that. And others joined me when they learned of a power that might rival Shinra. I have liberated more than just the people in those tanks, and now I will liberate everyone Shinra has enslaved."

"By shooting women, doctors? By torturing people day after day?"

"By whatever means." He stepped back from the console with a satisfied smiled. "There, it's done."

Reno let go of his anger for a moment. "Done? You just started."

"This was only the very last step in a long process. Short, but essential to bringing out the life giving properties of Achilles."

"What is a Achilles?" Cole turned around and grabbed Reno again, heading for the door.

"It fell to our planet years ago, just like the calamity did. And just like with Jenova, Shinra found it and exploited it."

Reno was shoved off the ladder and roughly caught by a soldier below. He coughed but continued moving forward as he was pushed toward the chamber. Someone had already opened it but no one wanted to walk inside.

"Go get it."

Reno looked between Cole and the chamber.

"Wait, why are you sending me in?"

"Not all the instructions could be found. The results of a mistake could be fatal, radioactive exposure could kill us instantly, or the substance might explode when you try to force it out of the tube. It may give life, but if it takes it away first, this has all been for nothing. So go in there and extract it. And if you die, I'll know I have to start again."

Reno glared at him, but he was just as desperate to get the Achilles as Cole now that everyone he cared about was dying. "Fine. Extract it into what?"

Someone opened another case and showed a series of vials. "Fill them all."

"We don't have time, they are dying out there." Cole grabbed the case and shoved it into Reno's arms.

"Do it."

Reno said nothing more and stepped into the chamber. They shut the door behind him but there was a small glass visor through which he could still be watched. He felt it immediately, a sharp burn in his lungs. Whether the Achilles was made right or not, this room was made to contain contamination. Reno looked up above him. Vents. They were probably supposed to air this room out before entering. He coughed hard and nearly dropped the case. This was not going to be easy. He made gesture back at Cole to the vents but the man didn't care, he just wanted what he wanted so Reno didn't waste any more time trying.

The room was sweltering hot, he wondered how much energy it had taken to refine it. He stared at the tube. It was full of the glowing gold liquid. It was almost beautiful.

"There should be hose. And a tray for the vials." Cole's voice came over an intercom, startling Reno. He decided to set the case down before he broke it. He found the hose attached to the tube. It narrowed into a needle that would easily puncture the rubber skin sealing each vial and make the transfer practically air tight. He arranged a set of vials and began. He placed the needle carefully in the first and pressed the trigger on the hose.

The room didn't explode, the liquid swirled into the vial so fast Reno had to stop almost the second he started. He was able to quickly move on to the next. He finished a set of four vials in less than a minute. But by then he was coughing worse. He had to stop to cover his mouth and he felt hot liquid spurt up his throat. He had to hurry, however, he really only needed one more for what he was planning. He filled the fifth vial and slid them into his pocket.

"What are you doing?"

Reno looked up at the small window and smiled. His teeth were stained red, and blood was trickling from his nostrils now, but he smiled wide at the man he had named Charles Cole.

"I am saving my friends and _defying_ you."

Reno raised the needle away from the vials and pulled his sleeved down with his teeth.

"NO!"

The door was cranking open but he already pushed the needled into his skin.

The sensation was was like nothing he'd ever experienced in the world. The burn of Achilles entering his veins hurt worse than anything Cole had done to him in those four weeks, but the pleasure of it's power spreading through him was a hundred times greater than the happiest moment of his life. A mix of a scream and laughter ripped out of him. The needle snapped off in his arm and the Achilles began to escape onto the floor. Reno fell onto his hands and knees, his body still shuddering from the rush. The gold liquid surged out around him, soaking his hands, his pants. A pair of familiar legs splashed in front of him.

"You bastard. You've destroyed it. And now it's destroying you! Look at you! How much did you take? A vial could heal ten men you idiot!" Hands clamped around his neck and hauled him up. His body was still convulsing, tremors sending spasms through him.

But he felt it. He felt immortality.

He felt a heart that was near breaking stitch back together. He felt arteries that had died pump oxygen back through his body. He felt old breaks and sprains fade away as if they'd never happened. And each scar. All those marks Cole had laid on him. But not just those, everything, from when Rude hit too hard in training, from when he cut his leg open trying to jump a fence, from his first helicopter crash, his first car crash, even an old scar from when he fell down as a child. Everything washed away. History washed away.

Everything, except those memories.

Reno's eyes shot open in Cole's grasp and they shone gold and fury. He ripped Cole's fingers from his neck and shoved him into the puddle of Achilles. But he couldn't waste time getting his revenge now. If any of his friends died, then not even Achilles could help.

He ran. Not a soldier could slow him down as he tore out of that maintenance hallway, through the building and up stairs until he burst onto the roof.

"Where is the boss?" one of the soldiers demanded. There were only four guards besides the doctor, but their guns swung to Reno. He quickly checked the scene but it was too hard to tell if everyone was still alive. Rude had managed to get his arms around Nora again and the two of them still seemed conscious. He read the incredulity on their faces and it was slowly dawning on the soldiers as well.

"Get out of my way."

His eyes flashed brilliantly in the sunlight, and then he was moving. Reno could feel the overwhelming power that Cole had described, the strength that he could never have even imagined, the feeling of vitality he had never known in all his life. But even more powerful than the Achilles drug in his veins, was his desire to save his friends.

Once he downed the first man he took his gun and finished the other three. The struggle was over before it began and then Reno had Cole's doctor by his collar.

"How much Achilles did you take?" the man sputtered.

"I need a syringe."

"More than a drop has never been tested. Tell me, how much you took!"

"Shut up." Reno threw the doctor down and grabbed his bag, taking it to Nora and Rude. He found a syringe and pulled out the vials in his pocket.

"I thought it would take a vial each." Reno said to Nora in particular, hoping her mind could still process his words past the pain and blood loss. "But Cole and the doc here are saying just a little bit."

"Reno, you took it?" She whispered past pale lips.

"Yeah."

"And you think just a small amount?"

"I think so."

"Okay, give me that." She took the vial and the syringe and pulled back just enough to fill the tip.

"Try it on me," Rude held out his arm but Nora smiled.

"You can't take all the risks." Before he could protest she slid it into her arm and injected. They both watched on in anticipation. Her body seemed to go through the same stages as Reno but on a lesser scale. She jerked in Rude's grip, a faint scream escaped her and then she sighed. After a moment she sat up shakily, and pulled the blood soaked fabric from her shoulder to reveal smooth skin.

"Reno, I think you just put me out of a job."

Both men laughed in elation but Rude groaned out in pain and they remembered the urgency.

"Here," Nora took another syringe from the bag and the other vial. "Take care of Rude." She didn't need to explain, Elena and the Director were the most in danger of dying. Reno nodded and as carefully as he could, extracted the golden liquid.

"Reno, how much did you take?"

Reno gripped Rude's arm and slid the needle in place.

"I thought a vial would be a dose..."

"What does that mean?" Reno looked up at him, his eyes still on fire with the light of Achilles, "I don't know." He eased the injection into Rude and watched the colour return to him, the mixture of pain and relief pass over his features. Now all those months he spent recovering from the threes bullets seemed so long, but they too, were washed away, the atrophied muscles, the tenderness, the weakness. Rude was back to his strength.

"I feel amazing."

"Yeah." Reno glanced over and saw with relief Elena waking up. Nora was already injecting the Director.

"Rufus." The two Turks moved to his side. Reno refilled the tip of the needle. "And to think after everything, I'm giving you what you wanted all along, you Son of a Bitch." Reno gave him the injection and rose. Rufus's eyes blinked open, he looked around dazed. Above him, Reno's features were indistinguishable because of the sun directly behind him, but somehow he could see his eyes, as if they were truly ablaze.

"Welcome to Immortality, sir."

Rufus had nothing to say as he stared up at the figure above him. Of all his feats that day, notable among them was that Reno had managed to render silent Rufus Shinra.

"Reno!" Reno's gaze tore across the tarmac to the open door. Cole stood there, his whole body shimmering, that charcoal suit of his consumed by the pure brilliance of the Achilles liquid. Next to him Alder stumbled out into the light, coughing, beat up. He staggered and fell on his hands and knees, looking up at his boss.

"Stop, boss! There's something wrong with you."

"There is nothing wrong with me, son." Cole pulled his gun out of his jacket and aimed at his subordinate's head. "Because today I am going to kill Reno of the Turks." Alder jerked at the point blank impact and fell dead.

"Shit." Reno pulled the rest of the vials out of his pocket. "Rude, do not let him get these. That's the last of it, the rest I spilled all over that floor and I dropped him in it. I'm not sure what that means, but I am thinking it still worked."

"Wait, Reno, you can't take him on by yourself."

"I've got the juice, I'm going to use it."

"Reno," Rufus warned getting up, "you know you aren't really immortal, right? If he lands a killing blow, Achilles won't bring you back. And I don't know for how long it will keep healing you, but eventually, it's going to where off."

"Then let's hope this ends before eventually."

Reno began firing. His aim was true but Cole was fast and even when he grazed him the wound vanished in a matter of seconds. When they met it was like two bears fighting. Hand met hand and it was a contest of strength while each man tried to force the other to back up.

This close, Reno could feel the enormity of Cole's strength, even against his own. He stared down at his stained clothes and then back to his face and realized his first assumption had been wrong. Cole's bared teeth were stained yellow, brighter even than his eyes.

"You drank it didn't you? Lapped it up off the floor like a filthy dog."

"Come now, Reno," Cole smiled, "how many times did I make you lick your food off the floor?"

"Shut up!" Reno pushed away and reached for his gun again but Cole knocked it away.

"No place for guns in this fight Reno. Knives however..."

Reno reeled from the strike. Coles' cruel blade drug over his ribs, burning deep. The gash healed over almost before Reno could feel it but the pain was still very real and the blade came down again before he could react. He cried out when it landed in his stomach. Cole twisted it tortuously, and toppled Reno.

"Ah yes, this is more like old times." He pulled it out only to drive it in again. Wounds healed before nerve endings had finished firing the pain signals to Reno's brain. Every time the shock and pain of the blade paralysed him for a second, and Cole didn't stop long enough for him to move.

"Rude do something!" Nora pleaded. He looked around for another weapon but by the time he found one Elena and Tseng were already moving.

"Here," Rude handed the vials to Nora, "keep 'em safe." Then he looked to the President, but he didn't speak to him as such, he spoke to him as a man who owed each of the Turks a debt, "and you keep _her_ safe."

And the he was chasing after his team.

"Isn't this great, Reno?" Cole said gleefully as he brought the knife down and and twisted it inside of him, "Now I can torture you as much as I like, as extreme as I like, and you won't die!"

He raised his knife again for another cruel strike but his body jerked. He jolted again and again and red dots of blood began to form on his chest. As the pain receded, Reno seemed able to hear properly again and heard the gunfire. Shot after shot after shot. The three Turks stood shoulder to shoulder shooting one after the other in a constant stream that drove Cole off of Reno.

"Don't stop!" Reno instructed, pushing himself back toward his team as he tried to recover from the shock of the pain. He had to look down to reassure himself he really had healed. His uniform was in rags, he tore the rest of his shirt off and looked up to Tseng. "Hit him in the head! Rufus thinks a killing blow is still a killing blow."

Tseng took aim and fired. Cole's head snapped back. They all held their breaths. He teetered forward, it seemed he would crash face first, but then a foot stepped forward to steady himself and he looked up at them smiling , a trail of blood over his eyebrow the only evidence of the shot. "Just missed."

"Crap!" The Turks resumed firing but their bullets ran out and Reno leaped up to intercept Cole before he could get them. Each man went for the neck. Reno's stature had him at a disadvantage. He couldn't quite exert the pressure he wanted whereas Cole had a firm grip.

"You can't win, Reno. You may have taken a massive dose back there, but that's not what really counts. Achilles builds on itself in your system. And this is my third dose. Those doctors pumped it in me back then, and I took it again the day I killed them and escaped. It doesn't matter that it was all those years ago, Achilles never really leaves you, never forgets you, and every time you take it you need less and less until you truly are immortal. You will lose this fight and I will still kill your friends. Question is, should I kill you Reno? Or should I make you immortal too, so we can play this game for eternity?"

"Fuck you!" Reno struck Cole's wrist and slid away. Cole swung and Reno dodged. He was faster than ever, his body moved smoother, acted quicker to his instincts. He almost felt graceful as he dodged and delivered blows. Cole was more powerful, it was true, but he was mad, he was blind, and he had no one to save but himself. Reno, however, had a whole rooftop of people he needed to protect.

"You don't really have a choice in all of this, you know." Cole taunted even as he absorbed a kick from Reno. "Even if you managed to beat me somehow, the withdrawal will kill you. You greedy little bastard pumped way too much in your veins."

"You fucking drank it!"

"But my body's had it before."

"Shut it." But Reno was caught in the throat and knocked over. He rolled clear of Cole's foot stomping down and grabbed his knee and twisted hard. Cole hollered in pain and fell as well. He elbowed Reno in nose and Reno reciprocated by grabbing his arm and jerking it out of the socket. Cole screamed again and Reno pounced on him. He grabbed his head and drove it back into the ground.

"What will it take to kill you huh?" he slammed his head back again. "Crush your skull? Open up that brain of yours on this rooftop? What won't Achilles heal fast enough, before your life that you love so much slips away?"

Cole sputtered but on the next strike down he came up unexpectedly and head butted Reno. In a second, their positions were reversed and Cole drove Reno's head back.

"Oh Reno, you sound bitter. But if it weren't for me, you wouldn't have this power. All those things I did to you are washed away, like it never happened, so really, you have no reason to hate me."

"GHAA!" Reno brought his knee up and shifted his weight, rolling them sideways. They became locked together, both trying to flip his opponent on his back. "WAHSED AWAY? Nothing can take away what you did to me! I'll never get rid of those memories!"

"But you never gave in Reno! Insanity drove you to defy me, and make me keep hurting you. If you'd only broken, I could have stopped."

"Insanity didn't drive me you Prick! You're greedy, Cole, you wanted immortality for you and you alone. You cling to the thought of life so much you missed out on living. I didn't give into you because I didn't need to live until I was eighty, I didn't need to live until I was thirty or even until the next day, because I had already lived for the years I was given. And if I died, people would remember me because they loved me. That is _real_ immortality. But you don't have that, you don't have anyone, so when you die you really will be gone forever, Cole. No one even knows your real name. You didn't find immortality, you found loneliness and you will leave no legacy."

Reno let out a roar and used all his strength to force himself above Cole. But Cole struck out and knocked him back. They both got to their feet and ran for one another.

Cole's weight won out and Reno slammed into the ground hard. He felt the sudden emptiness to one side and realized they were on the edge of the tarmac. There was no siding, just a sheer drop off the building to the ground countless stories below.

"You contradicted yourself, Reno." Cole smiled down at him as he slowly forced him closer to the edge. His shoulder dropped off and his head was now dangling in space. "If you had won this fight you would carry my memory. You said you can never forget what I did to you, and neither can they, your friends. You, Reno, would have been my legacy."

Reno let out a frustrated, desperate cry when his whole torso was jerked over the ledge. Cole held him there in that precarious angle and smiled. "As for your memory, Reno, I'm afraid it won't live on more than a few minutes while I kill the rest of your friends."

Reno's eyes flared in anger, but unbeknownst to him they were his true eyes again, brilliant green stared back at Cole, "Like I said, Cole, I've already lived."

Cole realized his mistake and tried to pull back but Reno had a grip on him now and he pressed his feet firmly against the edge for leverage. "You are coming with me." Reno pushed off with his feet and pulled against Cole, dragging him over the edge with him.

He saw the realization in Cole, the final understanding of what Reno had been trying to tell him all this time, all those long weeks in that cell. Life is only worth living, not merely surviving. Reno didn't need to survive this to have lived. Cole would die, truly mortal. Reno smiled in satisfaction and gave his body over to gravity.

But either gravity worked alot faster than he thought or his plan had gone awry. He felt a stunning blow to the head and watched Cole fall past him, a look of pure hatred and horror on his face. It took him a long moment to realized he was no longer falling and that he was vertical, not to mention upside down. He looked down his body, and up at the desperate faces hanging over the ledge.

"Reno, you idiot!" Rude swore, his hands wrapped around one ankle, Tseng's around the other.

"Did you get him?" he heard Elena's voice behind them.

"Yeah, just don't let go of our legs!"

Tseng and Rude shuffled back, hauling Reno up after them. Once he was high enough they grabbed his arms and flipped back onto the roof. The four of them stayed on the ground just breathing for several seconds, then Rude was on him.

"You idiot! Just because we ran out of bullets doesn't me would couldn't help! There is such a thing as a clip you know! More ammo! You could have just held him still while we shot him in the head, not throw yourself off the frigging rooftop!"

Reno tried not to smile. "Yeah, what was I thinking?" He almost thought Rude was about to punch him but then he found himself in his partner's strong embrace.

"I hate you sometimes, you know."

"Don't we all." Elena said crawling next to them and draping her arms around the pair. Tseng was the only one who stood up and walked over to the edge of the building. Though the distance was great, he could still see the shape spread out over the ground at the foot of the building. Achilles could not put that back together.

Charles Cole was dead.

* * *

_**Still more to come dear readers, so stick with me if you are willing, Cole may be dead, but not those memories...**_

_**Riza.**_


	11. Chapter 11

The door to her office opened quietly and Nora looked up. "Oh Rude." She paused when she saw his face. "Is something wrong?" He looked pale and a bit sweaty, and she thought he might even be trembling.

"Oh dear, come have a seat on the table."

"No, Nora, I'm fine."

"You are not, look at you!" She pulled him over to the examining table and made him sit down.

"Nora listen to me."

"Shh." She had the stethoscope up to his chest. "Gaia Rude your heart is pounding!"

"Nora-"

"Get this coat off and I'll take your blood pressure."

She reached up to pull his coat from his shoulders and something tumbled out of his pocket. She looked down at the small velvet box.

"What's this." He jumped off the table before she could bend to pick it up and grabbed it. "Rude?"

"Nora." He said, turning where he knelt and raising one knee. He held up the box and cracked it open. "I was...ah...wondering if...you would do me the honour of uh..."

Her squeal filled the room and he fell backwards when she landed on him, arms around his neck so tight it was nearly strangling him. "YES! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!"

"Good." he exhaled into her hair. She pulled back and he sat up, pulling the ring out of the box. She held out her finger and he slid it on with a broad smile.

"Come here, you." She grabbed his tie and pulled him into a deep kiss. "You've just made me the happiest-"

Her breath caught in her throat and he pulled back, gripping her shoulders. "What? What's wrong?"

"I...I don't know, it must be the excitement, I just feel...weird. Hold on." She got up from the floor and went into her private washroom. Rude waited outside the door, concerned.

"Nora..." he knocked lightly after a few minutes. "Nora what's wrong? If it's too soon just tell me."

"No Rude..." he was startled to hear her voice thick with tears, "I love you, I want this, but I don't know what's happening. I feel horrible." She broke in gasping sobs and he pushed the door open.

"Oh Nora." He held her in his arms while she sobbed uncontrollably. He couldn't understand what had happened. "Please, what' happening?"

"I just feel so empty." she whispered. "And weak. I want to be happy right now so badly but I just can't."

"I think I should get help." he rose but stumbled and gripped the side of the door. He had a sudden wash of inexplicable dread. He eased himself onto the lid of the toilet. She looked up at him from the floor through her own tears.

"What?"

"I..." his hand clenched over his gut. "Something's wrong." he whispered. His hand was shaking.

"I've upset you." she sobbed out.

"I don't think so." he wiped a hand over his face. He just sat there, slowly his head sank into his hands but he didn't speak again, didn't offer any more comfort to Nora. She stopped sobbing eventually, and grasped her knees, watching her fiancee in silence. She didn't think she'd ever get back up off this floor. But then someone was in the doorway calling her name and she looked up.

"Nora! Oh, Rude." Reno knelt down and put an hand on his partner's back. "Come on buddy look at me."

Rude didn't move. Reno looked to Nora and slid away from Rude to pull her into his arms. "Hey, come here, it's alright." He held her tight and she felt more tears squeezing out.

"It's not just us, is it?" she asked.

"No. I was with Tseng and Elena when it hit them. They're a mess. Rufus too, and some of the Soldiers who were on the roof that day."

"So it is the Achilles."

"Guess so. Cole did say something about withdrawal."

"He was addicted after just one dose." She whispered. "Didn't he say that?"

"I guess."

"He said he never felt alive again after that."

"He was insane, Nora."

"No. It made him insane! Even after all those years, he never got better!"

She broke into full sobs again and clung to him desperately. "Shh. It will be okay." But Reno couldn't deny that everything Nora had said was true.

* * *

"Why is it happening to them and not me?" Reno demanded of Dr. Smith the moment he left Rude and Nora's room. All of those affected had been admitted to the medical wing. Reno had started taking Nora away when Rude had suddenly grabbed his arm to stop him. He never spoke, whatever turmoil was happening inside him seemed to be sealed by his silence. But he had forced Reno's arm off of Nora and put his own around her instead. He was in terrible pain, but he had to protect her. Reno and Dr. Smith lead them to a room and they just laid down in the bed as they were, holding onto one another in their pain.

"You took a huge dose, Reno, it's still in your system, but Achilles has left theirs. I was able to do a scan of Tseng, it's definitely gone or at least so little is left it is undetectable."

"What does this mean?"

"Let me get the tests back, and I'll let you know. The Director is the most cooperative of them all, so I have sent him for some scans and I'm running his blood work now."

"Fine." Reno stood up.

"Reno, don't leave."

"What?"

"We don't know when this is going to hit you, but we can bet it will be alot worse."

Cole had mentioned that to him in the heat of battle, but many of those memories were a jumble of violence and heated anger.

"It's been three days since then." Reno said. "It took that long for a tenth of what I took to get out of their systems. So I should be fine for a month or more."

"If it works that way."

"Listen doc, we got the President and the Director down, as well as the rest of our team. Who do you think needs to pick up the slack?"

"Fine. But since Dr. Jones is unwell that makes me chief of staff. So I am ordering an attendant to stay with you at all times."

"Fine."

* * *

Reno didn't have a very long stay in the President's office. The next morning he was surprised when the door opened and Tseng entered, calm as ever. Reno looked up from the papers he had been filling in.

"This is the most paper work I've seen you do in your whole career." Tseng said looking at the spread of papers before the red head. Reno was surprised but explained.

"Well, I was not expecting to see any of you up so soon. I figured I might as well get what work I could out of the way." He rose and came around the desk, looking Tseng over. "So, what's the deal?"

"It passed. I felt terrible when I went to sleep last night and when I woke up, it was gone."

"And the others?"

"They are still in the medical ward, but everyone has experienced the same recovery. Dr. Smith would like to keep them, and myself, for observation but I convinced him to let me talk to you."

"About what?"

"About releasing us, Reno. We were admitted in a state of instability, putting you in charge. We can't override Dr. Smith without your permission."

Reno thought it over and smiled playfully. "Hmm. So I get to decide, how thrilling." He pretended to think it over. "You're free to go."

"Alright then. But I want to keep the others in for observation."

"Wait, what?"

"If I relapse it's one thing, but there's nine people in there who all have important jobs and if they relapsed in the middle of them, it could have devastating consequences. You and I will discuss the matter with Dr. Smith."

"Wow, Tseng, you're a tricky one, but okay. Let's go, boss."

* * *

They met in Rude and Nora's room, Rufus and Elena joining them. Everyone looked a little worse for wear after their night, a bit haggard, bloodshot eyes, but everyone claimed to be feeling much improved.

"The test results are back," Dr. Smith explained and Nora moved at once to look them over. "It is as we thought, the chemicals in your brain destabilized in the same way that occurs in patients with severe addictions to drugs who miss a dose."

"But we recovered way too fast."

"Yes." Dr. Smith sighed and sat back, "and that explanation, I am afraid, is only a guess because it can't be measured. I believe that once the Achilles had passed a certain threshold it triggered these sensations, however it wasn't completely gone from your system. Just like any other wound, it read the imbalance that it had caused as something broken in your body and with its very last strength, healed you by re-balancing those chemicals."

"Wow." Nora said taking it in but nodding. "That does make sense. It really is almost perfect."

"Okay, then we should be fine to leave." Rude said.

"It's still only a theory. A day of rest won't do you any harm. If nothing happens, I will be happy to release you all tomorrow morning."

"He's right." Nora said. "But I would like you to do one thing for me, Dr. Smith."

"Yes?"

"Get Cole's body prepped for an autopsy. I want him ready to go tomorrow morning."

"Good idea."

"What are you looking for?" Elena asked.

"He is the only other one to have taken a massive dose like Reno," Nora explained. "We'll see if we can get any clues from what's left of his body to find out how this process will affect him."

"You think it will be worse?" Rude asked.

"It's hard to say. Maybe. That threshold that we passed and created these feelings of depression, was at the very end of the cycle. But since our bodies only had a little to begin with, it was less dependant. That means this threshold might be a much larger dose in Reno. He will feel the depression even when he still has quite a bit left in his system."

Tseng considered. "So it will last longer?"

"Honestly, we can't know for sure, maybe not, maybe it will be exactly the same."

"I know what you're really worried about." Reno said looking between Dr. Smith and Nora. "You're worried how I will cope with depression whether it's worse than yours or not because you already think I'm not stable."

"Reno!" Nora sounded offended. "I don't think you're unstable!"

"Sorry," he said softly, "but you know what I mean. But," he stood and stretched, "honestly I feel great, better than ever, body and mind."

"Because you're still on Achilles. You should start seeing someone now, get yourself prepared for when you come down."

"I'm not high, Nora."

"In a way, you are."

"How can you say that? You felt like I do just a day ago."

"No, you were stronger than us all. I know how good I felt those three days, I can't imagine how you feel. You do need to prepare."

"And you are supposed to be resting, all of you." He rose, effectively putting an end to the argument. "See you all tomorrow." He walked out of the room. They all watched him go in silence.

Nora gripped Rude's hand. "This isn't going to be easy."

* * *

**Two weeks later.**

"Last one!" Reno sighed, setting down a cardboard box labelled 'dishes.'

"Thanks, Reno!" Nora swept past him, already unpacking the many boxes into her new couple's suit she shared with Rude.

"Reno, come help me move this." his partner called, indicating a couch.

"What's wrong with it here?"

"Don't ask, just do." He said, nodding to his fiancee who was busy arranging everything.

"Oh and when you get the chance boys, the bed should go on the opposite side of the room!" She called out cheerily.

"Great." Reno sighed and set the couch back down.

"You shouldn't complain, you're still all juiced up, this should be nothing for you."

"Hey, I carried twice as many boxes as you did! Why are we doing this now, anyway? Isn't this what you do _after_ you get married?"

"Yeah well, there was only one suite left and we didn't want to take a chance of it getting taken."

Reno straitened and looked at Rude hard.

"Wow, that was a terrible lie."

"Well, we didn't want to wait, okay." Reno stopped moving altogether. "What?"

"Oh don't pull that, Rude. Okay, I believe you want to be together asap, why not? But it's more than that."

"Of course it is." Nora dropped a pile of cushions on the couch. "You are going to crash and crash hard, Reno, any day in the next couple weeks. And despite all our tests, we don't know how bad or how long."

Reno was a bit taken aback. "What the hell does that have to do with you two moving in together?"

"Because until you are out of the woods, you need your doctor and your best friend around you as much as possible. So get comfy," she patted the pillow she'd just set on the couch, "because you're staying here until you're better."

Reno said nothing. He looked at them both and turned and walked out the door.

Rude sighed. "That could have gone better."

* * *

Reno was surprised who it was that found him in his apartment, feet up on the coffee table and drinking a beer.

"Uh, Rufus." he straightened a bit on habit, but then relaxed. He was in his own room and Rufus knew he no longer held the second in command's respect.

"Hello, Reno. May I sit?"

"Yeah." Rufus sat in the armchair.

"I heard you got upset when Rude and Dr. Jones told you their plan."

Reno smiled. "I tried to be upset but it doesn't last long, I just feel too good."

"You realize that's a problem."

"Yeah, feeling good all the time is such a huge problem." Reno answered back sarcastically.

"Come on Reno, you know it's not right."

Reno sighed. "Yeah, of course."

"But despite everything, all this good feeling, I can still see the worry in your eyes."

"Worry?"

"Or something along those lines. Reno, you were dying before Achilles. You knew that you didn't have to deal with everything that happened to you. Now you're going live, probably longer than you would have before all this. But you weren't prepared for that."

Reno's hand around his beer tightened.

"So what? You think I wanted to die?"

"I'm not trying to say that. You accepted it, Reno, and you were going to fight to the end without having to look back. It was admirable. But now you do have a future."

"Okay, here's a question for you. You also thought I was going to die. I found out all those secrets, how you used me, everything. So what now? Now I'm going to live, but you know I'll never look at you the same."

"So what do you suggest? I fire you?"

"I don't know, you tell me."

"Reno, I'm not going to fire you unless you stop doing your job well because you hate me. I apologize for what I did, for what happened to you, and I never expect your forgiveness. I just hope we can remain professional." Rufus rose, "I'll let Rude know where you are. You really shouldn't be alone."

"Rufus wait."

The president paused. Reno looked down at his beer for a long moment before speaking. "Okay, so I didn't expect to survive. You're right. And no matter how amazing I feel right now, I am terrified of life after Achilles. Of living with those memories forever."

"So you will see the therapist?" Reno shook his head no. Rufus sat down again. "You still don't want anyone else to know what happened in those sessions."

Reno nodded an affirmative this time.

"Okay then." Rufus sat back, "Talk to me."

Reno's eyes shot up from his beer, but Rufus was absolutely serious. He stared at him in silence for a moment, and then dropped his gaze again.

"It's my own screams." he said quietly. No tears would come, his body was calm, Achilles would keep everything in check but it was still hard. "I hear them all the time in my head. And the things I would say, sometimes because of the drugs, sometimes just because of the pain. And what he would say, you know."

Rufus nodded because he did know, and only he knew.

"And the way they treated me, I mean, besides the torture. I started to feel inhuman. I had no dignity."

"That's the way they wanted you to feel. They did it on purpose."

"And I knew that. I was trained about torture, but it didn't matter when it was happening to me." He paused for a moment. "Remember that knife, he had, Rufus, the one with the red handle?"

"Yeah."

"And remember the first time he used it."

"Yeah."

"Well that's one of the worst memories."

"Me too."

"This is why I can't talk to the therapist."

"Okay Reno. We'll work something out. We'll get you through this."

"Okay."


	12. Chapter 12

Rude's arms shifted around Nora's waist again and she sighed, rolling over under the sheets to face him.

"You can't sleep again, huh?"

"It's been twelve days since he moved in with us. It should happen any time."

"I know, but it doesn't do any good for you to stay up all night."

"I know." But he pulled back the sheet and rolled out of bed. "I'm just going to go get a glass of water."

"Okay." She watched him open the door and step into the hall but his footsteps stopped short and she heard him call Reno's name. Instantly she got out of bed and threw on her robe.

Rude was slowly approaching him. Reno was sitting up, not making much noise, but holding his head as if in incredible pain.

"Hey partner..." Rude pushed the coffee table aside so he could kneel and look into Reno's face. Nora turned on a lamp and moved closer as well.

"I can't do this, Rude." Reno barely whispered. "It's worse, it's so much worse than I thought."

"But it will pass, Reno. It will be okay."

"How?" His eyes were wide and he grabbed Rude's shoulders. "How Rude? Cole was right! I'll never feel like that again! I felt amazing all the time, and now it's gone. Now it's gone forever and I'll never feel so alive."

"Look, Nora and I are fine. Once it's gone you don't feel like that anymore. I still feel plenty alive Reno."

"You're lying."

"No I'm not, Reno."

"He's irrational, honey. It won't help." Nora said from beside them, but she didn't interfere yet, she knew Rude was Reno's most trusted friend and if anyone could help it would be him.

"I still have to try,"

"Of course."

"Reno, you're going to get better, and you're going to live a long life."

"Yeah," Reno said mournfully. "Now, after everything I did, I have to live." He choked on a sob, tears welling up.

"What does that mean, Reno? It's not a prison sentence."

"It is for me." His eyes were wild but convinced. "Every waking moment is a prison for me with these memories swirling around endlessly!"

"Rufus has been helping. And there are doctors who can help you too. They'll all get you through this, help you cope."  
"I don't want to cope! I just want it to be over!" He screeched. "I can't live with those memories, Rude, and I can't live without Achilles."

"Yes you can. I will get you through this, partner. We need you, everyone needs you. You can beat this."

Reno stared back at him, his fingers had dug into Rude's arms past his t-shirt, but now they fell slack. Rude watched the tears break over the crest of his eyes and reached up to embrace his partner.

"Help me Rude." Reno sobbed hard into his shoulder.

"Of course I will. I'll always be here, Reno." He soothed. Nora sat on the couch next to Reno and rubbed his back.

"And now you have both of us, Reno."

* * *

Nora came out of the bedroom early. She'd only been asleep a couple of hours, but she wanted to check on her men. Rude was asleep, sitting up on the couch, one arm still draped over Reno's shoulder. The red head was also asleep, Nora prayed he would wake up like they had and feel alright.

But her medical predictions were more faithful than the will of her heart. Reno woke and didn't move. Rude slid off the couch and Reno just filled the void, laying down, and just staring at the wall.

"You were kind of like that when it hit you." Nora observed to Rude trying to sound comforting. "We just have to ride it out." She pulled a blanket down over top of Reno.

"Are we going to take him to the medical wing?"

Nora pulled him a few feet away in case Reno was listening to them.

"Rude, those things he was saying last night, any other patient I would have put him immediately on suicide watch."

"What?"

"His depression is bad, and between the two of us we aren't enough to watch him all the time. Yes, I think we should take him the medical ward, only, I wanted to keep him here, keep it private, it's what he wanted."

"I know." Rude considered. "Rufus will give us some people, you know, to help keep an eye. Tseng's given me whatever time off I need to help Reno. I would like to keep him here if we could."

"Okay. Then you can make some breakfast and keep an eye on him while I pop down to the lab. I want to try giving him some medications that might help him feel a bit better."

"Okay."

* * *

Nora returned soon with a case and sat on the couch next to Reno. She explained what she was doing and he had no protests, he just nodded weakly when she asked for permission. She bared a shoulder and injected him. It took about half an hour, but he sat up and looked around a bit dazed.

"How are you feeling?" Rude came to his side with a plate of food. Reno looked down at it and his body lurched like he might be sick.

"Woa, Reno, what's wrong?" But it was fairly clear and Rude pushed the food away. "I thought you could eat solid food again."

"That was the Achilles," Reno whispered out.

"Reno, I know it changed how you felt, but food is still food, Achilles or no. You can eat it."

"I can't even look at it."

Rude wanted to ask why, wanted to ask what they had done to his food, or what they had forced him to eat, but he didn't. Reno just sat there, clutching his stomach. "It's okay, I'll make you a shake."

Nora took Rude's seat when he rose and grabbed Reno's hand. "So you feeling the difference with the medication?"

"I guess." His voice was so hollow, he didn't even look at her.

"Okay, well that's good then. I'll keep you on them as long as you need."

"So forever, then."

"Reno this will not last forever."

"It did for him."  
She sighed. She wouldn't start this conversation again. He was convinced this was how Cole had gone mad and now he would turn out the same.

"He said I would be his legacy. Well look, everything he said came true. I'm just as addicted as he was."

"Reno..."

But the other wasn't interested in hearing reason or comfort. He just dropped his face into his hands and remained immobile.

"On the roof," she continued anyway, "I heard what you said. You understood that man, Cole. And from what I could tell, you were right. He had nothing to live for except life itself, Reno. Of course he went mad because he was so alone. But you aren't, not at all. You have so many people who love you. So many people to live for. That's why you will be able to do what he couldn't and get past all this."

Reno never moved. She sighed and looked up at Rude when he returned with a protein shake.

But no matter how much they tried, Reno didn't even look at the glass set before him. He just sat in the darkness of his own misery.

* * *

There was a knock on the bedroom door and Rude woke up. "Um, sir?"

He rolled out from under the covers trying not to disturb Nora and pulled on his t-shirt before opening the door.

"What's wrong?" he asked slipping out into the other room. It was exhausting enough caring for Reno all day that he and Nora allowed two of the men Rufus provided to watch him at night. He'd been given a sedative and was expected to sleep through but it was only three in the morning, Rude determined when he glanced at the clock.

"He's been sick most of the night and for the last hour he's just been sitting there by the toilet. I didn't want to disturb you but he seems to be in quite the state."

"No, I'm glad you woke me." Rude moved down to the washroom where the other guard was leaning against the door. Rude excused him and knelt down next to Reno. He was sitting with his face huddled into his knees and his whole body was shaking. His t-shirt and pyjama bottoms were practically stuck to him with sweat. Rude reached out and touched his forehead to check for fever but he didn't appear to have one.

"Do you need anything?" He asked. Reno didn't move but the trembling looked like it was even getting worse.

He wanted to ask what was wrong, but it would be such a ridiculous question. Still, he wasn't sure if his partner was sick, cold, or terrified. But there really wasn't much he could do.

"Hey," he called to the two hovering outside, "get me a blanket and some water."

They hurried to get what he asked. He draped the blanket over Reno's shoulders and tried to get him to drink the water. But Reno seemed determined to remain shut off. Short of physically prying his head away from his face, there was no way for Rude to reach him, to see those eyes. He set the water down and settled back against the cupboard. He didn't know how much time passed before he began to hear the sharp intakes of breath. He realized he had almost fallen asleep and sat up again. Reno was in the exact same position but now the shaking was more clearly heaves of sobbing.

Rude could count the times he'd seen Reno cry on one hand. But this was something much different than those times. This was a sound of such pain he had never heard anything that could compare. And the most frightening thing about it, was that Rude was beginning to fear this was less the withdrawal and more the aftereffects of what happened to Reno in that month. His sobs were edged with hysteria, with sorrow and hopelessness and he knew Reno was thinking the exact same thing.

Slowly he put his hand on one shoulder and another over his hand that clenched over his legs.

"Reno..."

"Rude..." it was the only thing he said, but the name came out so pained and so desperate and his hand clenched around his partner's. He looked up with pleading eyes, asking for something Rude couldn't give, but he could try anyway. There was nothing he could do to take away this pain, but he could endure it with him. He drew Reno against him, this time meeting no resistance. Rude held him against his chest, cradled his shaking body, and tried to absorb some of the utter agony that was conveyed by the pain filled noises issuing from Reno.

He didn't know if Reno ever found comfort in him, but that unmasked, unrestrained pain definitely seeped into him. He couldn't fight back the hot water that blurred his own vision.

It was one of the worst nights of Rude's life.

* * *

_White tile. He'd been on it for hours. When they'd first thrown him in the shower he'd been relieved to wash away the blood that had crusted over his body, the dried sweat, the grit, the grime. Even when it had been freezing cold, he hadn't minded. But that had been hours ago. His body was numb, heavy, he felt deaf and blind. But the onslaught never ended, never let up on his stinging flesh, __felt like it would pound through him by the time they let him out. And when they finally pulled him out, when he finally thought relief was coming, he found himself in that room, under those lights, and Rufus on the monitor, and Cole standing over him asking him if he was ready for today's torture._

_ Hot lights, hot metal, the buzz of electricity._

_ And all he could hear was his own screams._

Rude snapped to when the body in his lap jolted. His arms were still around Reno who was now gasping and staring around wild eyed.

"Reno, hey, your safe."

But he immediately saw his partner was not in the present with him.

"Reno." he tried to keep him still until it passed, tried to get him to look into his face and understand, but all Reno felt was that he was being restrained. And now that, despite the withdrawal, he was healthy and strong, it was difficult task to keep him still.

"RENO!" Rude tried in vain to call him back, now completely restraining the man in his lap, pressing his arms into his chest. But bare feet got a grip on tiled floor and Reno bucked up, his whole body knocked Rude back into the cupboard, is head smacking into the bottom of the sink and he lost his grip on Reno as he clutched at a quickly forming spot of blood.

"Reno stop!"

He was already out the door. The guards had heard Rude's shout, but in one leap, Reno managed to kick one in the stomach and strike the other in the throat with dangerous force. He landed on all fours and sprung up again, grabbing the last figure in his way.

Coffee spilled over the carpet, the thud of the cup lost in the startled scream that came form Nora. She stood frozen in Reno's grasp, his hands clenched around her shoulders ready to throw her into the wall. His eyes met hers, he froze.

"RENO!" Rude bear hugged him from behind, pulling him off his fiancee. As Rude rolled them away from her, Reno's moment of hesitation disappeared and he kicked the wall, throwing them both backwards. Rude stumbled into the couch, they fell sideways and Nora screeched as they smashed through the coffee table. For a moment she thought they were done, but then Reno was scrambling up and Rude caught his ankle to stop him.

"Rude let go." Reno shouted when he was floored and drug back toward Rude. The other was half on top of him, trying to keep him from running, but he let up some when he heard this.

"Reno, thank goodness."

"Rude, I said get off." He shoved Rude back and made to get up.

"Reno, you had a flashback, it's alright-" Rude was getting up too, they were both beat up, Rude's shoulder had hit the table first, blood soaked through the fabric of his shirt. Reno's hand was bleeding, but he didn't notice as he used it to push Rude back again and stood.

"It doesn't matter, Rude. Look what I just did. Look what I almost did to Nora." He stamped through the splinters to the door but Rude didn't let him go.

"I said get off!" Reno swung when Rude grabbed him, the other blocked but caught a knee to the gut.

"Stop this Reno!" Rude felt the impact in his jaw but got a blow to Reno's side and one hand on his throat. Reno knocked his arm free and elbowed him in the jaw. This second hit definitely loosened something and Rude staggered slightly.

"RENO!"

"Rude, I'm sorry," Reno was at the door, "I'm a danger to you both, to everyone."

"No, Reno, don't!"

Reno threw the door open and ran.

"RENO!"

* * *

Reno ran past suits, past guards and Turks and custodians. He ran down halls, stairs, through a side tunnel, until he got where he was going. He's lost all who were chasing him, he was covered in sweat and he left a bloody hand print on the glass doors as he pushed into the medical wing. He continued to shove through the doctors and staff, he didn't listen to protests when he yanked the key card off someone's lapel and began running down the corridor. He heard Smith yell at him when he caught sight of him but he just kept running until he got where he was going.

_Quarantine._

He swiped the key card and dropped it behind him as he entered the room. The door shut solidly behind him, he couldn't get out now. He couldn't hurt anyone else.

* * *

They were still searching for him by the time the report came from the medical wing that Reno had very forcefully admitted himself. The emergency was over before news ever reached Tsegn and Rufus in the president's office.

* * *

"He's been like that since he came. I immediately followed him, afraid he might hurt himself, but he hasn't moved."

Rude stared through the sealed glass doors at the form hunched on the floor. He was the same as he had been in the bathroom that morning.

"Can I see him?"

Smith looked up at Rude's black and blue face. He'd been treated once he'd determined Reno was safe and though Nora wanted him on bed rest for a concussion he'd come here.

"I would ask you not to. He made a decision by coming here. He could have just as easily gotten a weapon when he left your apartment and tried to kill himself, as many in state would have, but he didn't because he decided to protect you all, from himself, and if he killed himself that would have hurt you worst of all. So he came here, specifically to quarantine, so that he couldn't get out and you couldn't get in."

"He's cut himself off completely," Nora moved beside Rude and slid an arm around his waist, careful not to touch the bruises.

"Yes. And I think we should respect his choice."

"Respect his choice? He doesn't even know what he's doing." Rude grumbled.

"Yes he does." Smith argued. "He may be in a very bad place, but knows what he's doing, just like he knew what he was doing when he did that to you."

Rude clenched his jaw. "He needs us."

"He does not need to see how badly he hurt you."

"He's right, honey." Nora agreed. "Seeing what he did will just upset him more."

"So we're going to let him suffer this alone?"

"Rude," she soothed, "Dr. Smith is right, this was his choice. It will pass, he'll be okay, but this way nothing worse will happen in the mean time. As long as you have him under supervision the entire time, Dr. Smith."

"Of course."

"Then let's go, Rude, please. Let me take care of you."

Rude stared at Reno a moment longer, but then he reached for Nora's hand and nodded.

* * *

They met Rufus and Tseng just outside and brought them up to speed. The other two nodded in silence and Nora pulled Rude away. Tseng was visibly troubled, but Rufus just strode forward toward the room.

"Sir, what are you doing?" But the president ignored him, reaching for his personal all-clearance pass and swiping it in Reno's door.

"Ah, Mr. President-" Dr. Smith's protests were cut off by the hissing of the opening door and Rufus marched inside before the doctor could finish, Tseng right behind him.

"Stay out here." Tseng ordered the doctor as the doors slid shut and locked again.

"Rufus, leave him. You heard what Nora said, he chose to come here."

"Isn't that, _sir,_ Tseng?"

"You gave up that privilege a long time ago." The president whipped back to look at Tseng.

"What did you say?"

"I swore an oath to this company a long time ago. I intend to uphold that, but you can't seriously expect us to forget."

"I expect you to be professional."

"Oh I will be." Tseng said deadly calm. "I will carry out my orders. I will lead your forces, but I will never forget what you put Reno through."

"I went through it with him."

The abrupt sound of flesh meeting flesh was followed by complete silence. Reno, hunched on the floor, was all but forgotten now, the red mark rising on Rufus' cheek heated the flesh beneath it. Cold eyes settled on the Director, not shocked, but any anger there held no comparison to the boiling fury in Tseng's eyes.

"Don't you ever compare what you went through to what _he_ endured."

"You wish you knew. All of your being wishes you could have seen it, so you would know. That is why you are truly angry, because it will never be you who can really help him the way he needs."

"No, Rufus, you can't talk your way out of this. My anger is not directed at myself, you cannot deflect this. It rests solely and completely on you."

For a moment, Rufus had nothing to say, but then his expression settle back to one of a superior looking at his subordinate. "As long as you remain professional, it matters not. Your anger will never hurt me like my own guilt does."

"Did you set us up?"

"No."

"Did you lead Reno into a trap?"

Silence.

"Did you know that man was waiting on the roof for him? That they had already positioned themselves there in hopes of catching a runner?"

"I knew it was a possibility."

"And what exactly does that mean?"

"Tseng, I did not lead Reno into a trap. He had no other choice but to keep moving, I did what I could to save him. I lost half a dozen soldiers trying get him off that rooftop."

"And what exactly were their orders? To make it look like a good try?"

"TSENG!" Rufus' patience was spent. He'd taken enough abuse, he was done. "I am NOT the devil you think I am! I tried to bring Reno home that day. I knew about Achilles, I sent you to a warehouse where I thought it might be hidden. But I did not intend for any of this to happen."

"You withheld information that made this happen, and put us all in danger. I need to know you won't do that again."

"I can do what I like, I'm the president."

"You liar." the quiet voice came from directly behind the president. He felt hot breath against his neck before he was thrown against the wall. A forearm pinned him in the back of his neck and the hot breath was back. "You told me you would do it different. You told me that you knew you should have told them all from the start, at least Tsegn, and not let us all get in such danger! Was that a lie, you pompous bastard?"

"Reno, let go."

"I fucking saved you. You said you were going to save me, undo what you had done, but it was me in the end, who had to fix your mistakes, and now it's me who has to live with them."

"Reno's you're still in withdrawal, you need to calm down." Rufus was shoved harder against the wall.

"Shut up! Everyone keeps saying that but this is just my life now! I have to live with those memories 24/7. And now I have to live like Cole did, craving that feeling of Achilles for the rest of my life! I could have died! I was ready to die! But I had to live just to save you!" Reno's voice was fluctuating between anger and despair. One moment he was screaming in rage, the next his voice was filled near breaking.

"Reno," Tseng was behind him, "It wasn't just Rufus you saved."

"Stay back Tseng!"

"Reno, I can't let you hurt him."

"I just wanted to be alone."

"I know, let me take Rufus out."

"Why did you come in here?" Reno asked, not Tseng, staring at the blonde head pressed up firmly against the wall.

"Reno, I promised I would help you."

"That's not why."

"Yes it is."

"Tseng was right, it's to ease your guilt. It's why you always ask me to look at you. You want to see my eyes and know you can be forgiven."

"Reno, we agreed I would help, I thought it's what you wanted."

"I don't want anything from you."

He slid his hand to Rufus's collar and dragged him back from the wall but let go. Rufus stumbled a few feet but straightened. Reno was staring adamantly at the wall.

"If you want me to feel guilty, then why don't you look at me?"

"Rufus, stop." Tseng was watching Reno shake. "You've done enough."

"You've given me two reasons, Reno, why you won't look. The first time you said it was because of those memories. Then you said it was because you hated me. But I think it's because you don't want to see the guilt. You want to see coldness in my eyes so that you can hate me without restraint. You want me to be a monster like Cole so you have somewhere to pin all those evil thoughts in your head now that he is dead."

They could hear his laboured breaths, the emotions inside Reno rattling his chest. One hand was raised against the wall, his fingers turning white as they vainly gripped against the smooth surface. He was slowly losing his grip, both physical and mental.

"Reno." Tseng approached, seeing him begin to slide down the wall.

"Don't touch me." the voice was surprisingly forceful, hatred for Rufus spilling over. Tseng paused and watched his knees slowly take his weight on the floor.

"Reno you need to breath."

"I know what I fucking need!" he screamed into the wall.

"Reno, look at me." those four words Rufus has said to him over and over. Those four words that had dripped tauntingly down on him from Cole, countless times.

"NO!" He screamed, clutching his head and folding in on himself, "NO no more!"  
"He's flashing back!" Rufus warned, this scene too familiar for his liking.

"Reno come back!" Tseng shouted, remembering the day he'd drug him away from the shower. "Reno, it's Tseng, you're safe." He got closer but didn't touch him, knowing it was certain to trigger a reaction. "Reno please wake up."

"Please stop." this time the voice was small, terrified.

"Reno, please just look at me."

Tseng saw every muscle bunch and grabbed hold of Reno's wrists before hands were on his neck.

"RENO!" his back hit the floor, the director was using all of his strength to keep Reno from reaching him. He twisted and toppled the red head on his side. Reno rolled onto his back and found himself staring up at one face.

"Rufus."

The President remained where he was, let show, his true emotions in his ever controlled features, he stood vulnerable, and staring down at unmasked pain and fear.

He expected anger, he expected pain but instead he saw that same desperate look, same awful plea he'd heard so many times.

"Save me."

Everything in Reno broke. Every horrible moment of that place assaulted his waking memory, all the horror of having to live with it when he'd made peace with dying, and all the despair conjured in the wake of Achilles. And above him stood the monster he begged for mercy, the man he lived to save. He looked down on Reno as he wept, as his body writhed in countless pains, past and present,

"We will save you, Reno."

"We're here," Tseng reached down slowly pulled Reno up so he was sitting against him, hugged into chest. For a long while Reno's hysteria prevented him from moving, from reaching back, and Tseng just sat there, holding him as still as possible, praying for the episode to pass. Rufus watched on, though Tsegn didn't bother to take in his reactions.

"Tseng?" the voice came through a hoarse throat and hands he'd been restraining now sought to hold him back, if only to know he was real. Tseng let Reno knot his hands in his uniform, felt his breathing steady out, if only a little.

"Yes, Reno it's me."

"Where are we?"

"Shinra, Reno, you're safe. We're in the medical wing."

"Right."

"Reno, do you remember coming her?"

"Yeah, I was just...I was back there."

"I know."

"The things he did to me..."

"Reno..."

"I know, Tseng, I'm a Turk, I was trained to deal with it."

Tseng stiffened, his grip tightening a little on Reno, "Reno, no, that is not what I was going to say, I would never say that. Reno, you can never be prepared for it, and you would never be expected to just deal with it. We're a team, and we have access to so many people and resources that can help you. Don't ever think you are alone."

Reno was trembling again and when he spoke Tseng could hear the edge of tears. "I don't want help, Tseng. I just wanted to die. I didn't want to be saved anymore, I just wanted it to end."

He shut his eyes tight and tears leaked out but it seemed his body was too exhausted for full sobs.

"You can't mean that."

But Reno didn't answer.

"It's the Achilles, Tseng." Rufus reminded, surprisingly gentle.

The Director nodded, but not entirely convinced.

"I'm going to get the doctor." Rufus left. Tseng felt as exhausted as his younger subordinate. The Turks had been through Hell together, and for all his skill, all his accomplishments, Reno was still so young in Tseng's eyes. He was hard on him, he was his boss, but he felt responsible for everything that happened to his team. They were family, and so he sat there, holding his broken teammate, and wishing for all the world he could take his pain away.

* * *

**_Couple of chapters left!_**

**_Riza_**


	13. Chapter 13

Tseng didn't know who called them, if Dr. Smith had been watching that whole time or Rufus had explained it to them, but when made his way from Reno's room, exhausted, seeing the images of those tapes in his mind's eye, feeling the utter pain that had come out of Reno, he'd found his team waiting for him in the Turk offices. He just sat in one of the four low armchairs just outside his own office, Rude on one side, Elena on the other, and all of them staring at the empty space where their fourth always sat. Slowly the director turned to the left and took in Rude.

"I thought you had a concussion."

"I'll be fine."

He looked to the right, Elena's eyes were barely dry, he reached up slowly, not sure what he was doing, and settled with brushing a stray hair behind her ear. She smiled sadly him.

"He's going to be alright." he whispered. "But he's going to need our help to get him there."

"We will, sir." Elena reached out and took his hand. And then she stood and reached for Rude's. He took it. "We are the Turks we can overcome anything."

* * *

Reno pulled out of a hazy sleep. It wasn't a good sleep, he still felt tired and he had lay here for a long time just willing the energy to get up. But as he sat, he realized why he was so drained. He pulled the IV out of his arm as gently as he could. He was pretty sure it was a sedative of some kind. That would explain why he didn't remember getting into a fresh pair of pyjamas or taking a shower since he felt pretty clean. His mouth was cottony, he looked around and spotted a pitcher of water. But when he tried to stand his legs gave out and he fell to the floor.

"Oh man." he clutched his head, feeling dizzy and just sat there when the door chimed lightly followed by a hiss and the sound of hurried feet.

"Reno!" Dr. Smith grabbed his shoulders to steady him and looked him over. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know, Doc, you tell me, why is the room spinning?"

"I had you on some fairly strong meds, to keep you calm. But Reno, tell me, how are you feeling?"

The question was so strained, almost desperate, and for a moment Reno wasn't sure why. Then his eyes widened, his mouth opened slightly and he looked himself over as if there would be some physical evidence of the change he was feeling. He looked back up at Smith and grabbed his white collar.

"It's gone!" he half laughed, "Oh Gaia, it's really gone!" He was so happy he yanked the doctor against him and hugged him as he laughed, "I'm not like Cole after all, it really was just withdrawal. The Achilles is finally gone." He pulled back and made to stand but stumbled again and the doctor put a hand on his shoulder to calm him.

"This is wonderful Reno, but just take it slow, you need to let the sedatives wear off and then you'll be fine." He put his arms under Reno's armpits and pulled him back up onto the bed. "Just stay there," he instructed as he got the glass of water Reno had wanted. Reno drank thirstily, then drank another glass.

"I can't believe it's over." Reno said when his thirst was finally satisfied.

"I'm so glad."

Reno looked over at the doctor now beside him on the bed, putting a bandage over where his IV had been. "Yo Doc, I'm sorry about everything that happened before, I was kind of an ass to you."

"Understandably, but thanks, Reno. Now, I know you just woke up, but I would like you to sleep off the rest of the drugs in your system, and when you wake up, I'll have food and fresh clothes for you."

Reno wanted to protest, wanted to rush out and tell his friends he was okay, and apologize for everything, but he did still feel groggy so he agreed and with some help, got settled back under the sheets.

"Just one thing, I know they are waiting for some good news, but I would really love to give it to them myself." Reno said as his eyes drooped.

"Fair enough." The doctor smiled and left.

* * *

Reno buttoned up his shirt and let it hang lose over his pants. He didn't have his jacket but that was alright. He tried to finger comb his unruly hair into some sort of reasonable mess, and then looked up at the doctor, and smiled.

"Lead the way!"

Smith opened the door but let Reno head to the Turk offices ahead of him. He was glad to see him better, but he wasn't fully recovered and in order to convince him of that, he would need back up. So he was headed in the direction of Dr. Jones' office.

Reno took the stairs. Why? Because he _could,_ because his body may not be amped up on Achilles, but it was his again, not some beaten, broken thing. It worked and he would put it to work. He was a bit out of breath when he threw the door open and stepped into the lobby of the Turk offices. His eyes went straight to one place, and sure enough, at least one of the four read armchairs was occupied.

"Reno!" Elena leaped up in surprise and ran to him. Before jumping on him though, she paused and looked him over.

"I'm real," he said with a smile.

"You're, okay?"

"It's gone, no more Achilles, no more withdrawal." He opened his arms and she fell into them, the only Turk he could hug and still feel big and strong. Her head tucked under his chin and he just basked in that moment of her happiness, let it wash through him.

"Tseng." he acknowledged when the Director stepped out of his office.

"Reno." The Director answered back as smoothly as possible but made his way over to him, "I take it the Achilles finally ran out?"

"Yeah." Elena pulled back and he let her slide free.

"Good." Tseng couldn't really hide the relief in his voice. "Shall we tell Rude, then?"

Reno shrugged with a grin. "Maybe."

"Maybe my ass!" He spun to see Rude standing with a tray of three coffees behind him.

"You're missing one, partner." Reno smirked.

"You little jerk." Elena swooped to grab the coffees before they ended up on the floor and Reno found himself feeling less than manly in his partner's all enveloping embrace. "Told you, you would be fine." He muttered into Reno's shoulder before letting go.

"I know." Reno replied soberly to them all. "I'm so sorry for what happened."

He didn't meet their eyes, shame forcing them to the ground, but it was the director who put a hand against his cheek and brought his face back up. "We are only glad we could be there for you this time."

"Thanks."

"Coffee's going to get cold." Elena said setting the tray down on the table between the four chairs. "I'll go get the last one." She said, running back toward the coffee machine. The three men sat as they had so many times before, enjoying a simple pleasure. Elena returned, their team was complete, they all just sat in contented silence, even though they knew that life wasn't this simple, that Reno still had so much to face, but that this moment maybe didn't have to end.

Eventually it did. The coffee gone, Reno stared at the bottom of his cup and started to notice the unsteadiness of his hand. He quickly set the cup down and pulled his arm against him to hide the shaking.

"It's the coffee." A voice made them all turn, they saw Dr. Smith, Rufus and Nora approaching, Smith's eyes on Reno. "Stimulants are the last thing you need on an empty stomach. You forgot to eat your breakfast."

"Not hungry." Reno muttered.

"I know. And we need to discuss that." Reno watched the two approach apprehensively, though he liked them both, he did not like this tag-team act.

"I think we all need to have a discussion, is there somewhere private we can go?"

Tseng stood up and lead them to a conference room. The Turks sat on one side, the doctors and Rufus on the other.

"Today is wonderful day," Dr, Smith began, "Reno has overcome the last of the Achilles, and he is not in any way exhibiting the prolonged effects Cole believed he suffered."

"But...?" Reno prompted

"But of course we can't ignore what you have yet to deal with Reno."

"We could try." He shot back.

"No we can't." Nora said sternly. "You know that Reno."

"Rufus said he'd help."

"Rufus is not a psychologist."

"But..." Reno looked across the table, not really wanting to voice his reasons for wanting only to confide in the President. But the doctor just waited, as if hearing him say the words would confirm something. "No shrink is ever going to understand, and I can't make them."

"Because you can't talk about it."

Reno glared at Smith.

"That is why I am having this meeting with you all, and why I got Dr. Jones to back me up. She and I have agreed that this would be best."

"What would be best?" Reno demanded.

"Reno, what happened to you has become a barrier between you and the rest of the world, including your closest friends. They don't know what happened, why you might now exhibit certain tendencies, like your unwillingness to eat. And you use the mystery of it to keep them distant. You want them to be afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing because they don't understand, so that they never bring it up."

"What exactly are you accusing me of?"

"Of trying to make this go away, be forgotten. You're trying to shove a secret that's been half told back into the closet and lock it up there. It won't work, and you have to stop trying or you'll never learn to cope with it."

Reno's eyes shifted to Nora. "You agree?"

She nodded, "I do Reno."

"So what, you want me to let you all watch those tapes?"

"No Reno," Nora jumped in, "of course not. But we want you tell us what happened."

Reno balked at this. At first his expression was shock, and then he burst out with an odd laugh and stood up.

"That's ridiculous. I can't tell you what happened. I mean, what good would it do? Like I said, no one but Rufus can understand anyway." His voice was a mix of incredulity and outrage but it shook with something closer to fear.

"It's not ridiculous." Nora said calmly, "It would give you back control. If you could tell us, you could say the words, you would take some of the power out of those memories. And you say Rufus understands but Reno, he didn't feel what you felt. We will never be able to understand that, Reno, but if you share those memories with us, we can understand alot of other things, and we can most certainly share that burden with you."

Reno was shaking now, realizing that this was a very serious proposition. He glanced at everyone, and everyone was looking at him. But the very thought of trying to take them through that Hell with him was too much. He felt shame at things he'd said, felt, even done. He felt embarrassment as how he'd been treated. He felt horror at them knowing the ways they'd found to trigger pain.

"I can't." he breathed out, finding himself using the back of his chair as support.

"I think you can try." Dr. Smith added firmly.

"No," Reno said again, gripping the chair harder, "I can't—I can't say those things." He fumbled for his words.

"Reno," Dr, Smith was as gentle as possible. "Look at what you are doing."

"What?"

"You're holding that chair like it's a shield. It's like I said, you keep creating barriers. And now you're building one between us because you are afraid of what I am saying."

Reno glanced down at the chair and then shoved it back so hard it toppled. Rude and Tseng watched him, but neither jumped to restrain him. He was still trying to be calm. His knuckles pressed against his lips and he breathed deep.

"It's okay, Reno." Nora soothed.

"It's not okay." He sighed, wiping his face with his hands and shaking them out. "I just wanted it to be okay."

He turned at the clunk of his chair being righted and met Tseng's eyes. Then he glanced between the chair and Dr. Smith. He sat.

"Thank you, Reno."

"I didn't say I could do it."

"But you'll try."

"I...there are just somethings, I don't know if I can..."

"Maybe it doesn't always have to be you who says it, maybe it just needs to be said."

He looked up to Nora who was looking beside her at Rufus.

"Rufus could tell you?"

"If you need him to help you, he can."

"I will." the President confirmed.

"I never wanted anyone to know."

"I know, Reno." Nora said softly. "But I think Dr. Smith is right. I think you need to take control of it, and we need to help you do it."

"Let's try." Dr. Smith said. "Just one thing, just to see, okay?"

Reno stared at him for a long moment and then nodded. "Reno, why don't you want to eat?"

It was question to which Rufus didn't know the answer, and the doctor knew that. He was clever. Reno nearly felt angry, but he fought that emotion back. He shut his eyes, seeing the reason, tasting it, feeling it.

"He starved me at first." It was barely above a whisper. "Only gave me water to keep me conscious. I forget how many days. And then finally he came with food. He lay it down it front of me, and then he yanked open his pants and pissed all over it. So I didn't eat it. He did it again the next day. I didn't eat it. Everything inside me burned for food, and some part of me even wanted to eat it even covered in piss. But he would win, so I didn't eat it. And then one day his men came in and grabbed me, and they shoved it in my mouth, every last piece of urine covered food. And every day they did that until he started starving me again."

The others were silent, they were just as unprepared for this little intervention as Reno and searched for the right words. Elena reached across and gripped his hand.

"Thank you, Reno." Dr. Smith said finally.

His head was bent staring down at the table. He just nodded.

"So where do we go from here?" Tseng asked.

"That's the question. I have a suggestion. I think Reno needs to postpone going back to work and just focus on getting better."

"WHAT?" Reno leapt up again but before any further protest could be made, Tseng met his shocked gazed and said,

"I agree."

"Director, please."

"No, Reno. You have put this off long enough."

"You know why!"

"It doesn't matter, you need to heal."

"That's right." Nora intervened, her voice penetrating Reno's outrage and he cut off another protest to listen to her. "You need to focus on this, and you need both privacy and our help to do so. That is why I would like you to be admitted to our psych department."

It wasn't only Reno who reacted to this, all the Turks seemed surprised and shot her protesting looks. Reno just stared at her, feeling betrayed.

"Nora," Rude spoke first, "why?" He was shocked too, but he knew she would never suggest it without a reason.

"Because I want Reno to be able to work through this somewhere safe, somewhere where he has his own room, but where we can come and go and create a neutral space to have these discussions. And then, when it's done, Reno can leave that place, and return here stronger. If we try to do this here, the transition will be less defined, the memories will become linked to this place. Instead, all of this can occur in a place that can be left behind once it's over."

"And you were accusing me of creating barriers." Renos said sarcastically.

She sighed, "Yes I did. But I think you understand, don't you?" She said wisely, seeing the way Reno was calm now. If he had to do all this, he didn't want to do it in the same environment he would be trying to pick up his life in.

"I'll do it. But I have one condition."

"What's that?"

"Let me finish one mission first. Tseng," he turned to the Director, "you didn't get all of Cole's men."

"No."

"They are holding up at the facility right?"

He nodded.

"Let's finish it then."

"You already finished it when you threw Cole off that roof." Tseng answered back.

"You know you could use me."

Tseng glanced at the doctors then back to Reno. "You'll get treatment after?"

"Yes."

"Alright then."

Nora's lips were tightly pursed, but she held back her arguments, there was no point. When they all agreed and rose, however, she slipped over to her fiancee and gripped his arm, "Don't let him out of your sight."

He nodded.

* * *

**_Not much left now, hope you've stuck with it. Feel free to leave your thoughts._**

**_Riza._**


	14. Chapter 14

They departed the next day. There were little plans to be made, Tseng had only held back because he was two members down. Now, with his personal team complete, he lead Rufus' SOLDIERs and his Turks to the doors of Cole's building. The heavy glass, bullet proof though it may have been, lay shattered everywhere, scraps of metal, desks and whatever else could be found were stacked in defence. The glint of wire warned the Turks not to advance, they'd taken some serious precautions.

"The only ones left are the clones and those who were pulled from cryogenic sleep. The civilians have all made their way into the refuge of the slums." Tseng announced. "We're going to blast in and take them by force."

"Understood." The men shouted. Reno was silent beside him. Someone prepared a launcher and the rocket obliterated their defences. Bullets rained out in the aftermath. Everyone took cover.

"They have more men left than we thought." Rude shot to Tseng over the roar. "What do you want to do?"

"Send another rocket in."

Reno grabbed his arm. "Tseng wait."

"What?"

"Cole used them too. It's not their fault."

Tseng's eyes were hard and unyielding. "It doesn't matter, our job is to protect Shinra's interests." He motioned to one of the Soldiers. They loaded the launcher again.

"Tseng-"

There was a hollow pop and the rocket was gone. Reno watched it speed through the air, the men inside ceased firing and tried to find cover. This was his opening.

"RENO!" Rude called his name, even made a grab for him, but he ran in the wake of that rocket as fast as he could. Then he ran into the heat of the explosion, jumped over broken furniture and landed in the centre of the shattered lobby. There were groans of pain, there was blood and bodies, but almost as one he heard the click of guns being trained on him.

"Remember me fellas?" He asked the room, slowly revolving on the spot, taking in every face. "I sure remember you."

* * *

"Director, what do we do?" Elena leaned over the barrels where they had taken cover, her gun trained on the entrance where Reno had disappeared.

"We haven't heard any shots. If we try to interfere, we could get him killed."

"Damn him." Rude was on the other side of Elena.

"It was his choice, now we just have to wait."

* * *

"Soon as you shoot me, they're going to send another rocket in here, then grenades, then they'll move in and pick off anyone who's left. They are going to kill every single one of you today unless you listen to me."

No one spoke. He knew they recognized him despite his dramatic physical improvement since his days in that cell. They just waited.

"I killed him, you know. I threw him off of a building. He deserved so much worse for all those things he did to me." He cast his gaze around the room. "But it wasn't you who did it to me. You never really got a choice. You woke up here, forgotten by one monster and found by another. Shinra controlled you first, and then Cole did. End it. Throw down your weapons and walk out those doors like men. I can't tell you want will happen next. But at least you will have finally made a choice of your own. Chose to live, whatever you have to deal with after, because that is what I have done."

"How?" Someone finally spoke. "How are you here like this?"

"Achilles," Reno answered, "I took the power Cole used on you, and tried to gain for himself. But it's gone now, I am human again."

"So it was all in vain."

"Yes."

"Why are you doing this? Why don't you hate us?"

"I didn't say I don't hate you. I honestly don't know how I feel about you lot. But I'm just trying to put an end to all this madness without spilling anymore blood."

Silence followed, all the men were looking to one another, trying to decide on their best option. Reno sighed.

"Look, I have something else I have to do here, so let me make this simple. Lay down your weapons and live, don't and die. Those are the only options here, so pick, but I can't waste my time here anymore."

He marched out of their circle, no one made a move to stop him as he headed for the elevator.

"This thing still work?" He asked the soldier closest. Stunned, the man just nodded. "Good," he hit the button and doors struggled open. Just before they shut he saw the first man set his gun on the ground.

* * *

"What's happening?" Elena whispered when they saw the first signs of movement. But her question was answered as a steady line of soldiers marched out with their hands held high.

"He got them to surrender." Rude said, shocked. Tseng was less impressed, and began shouting orders. The men were arrested and he grabbed the first one he found.

"Is the building clear?"

"Yes, we were the last ones."

"Then where is Reno?"

"He got in the elevator. I don't know what floor."

"I do." Rude said grimly behind Tseng. The Director glanced back at him.

"Let's go get him."

* * *

Reno was surprised the generators were still going, that the building had this much power. The white lobby was as pristine as ever, he'd only ever glanced it as the soldiers drug him down to the stairwell. He had gone to his cell first. It had be untouched since he left. The floor was still stained, still cold and filthy. The straps still hung there. But he was able to shut that door and walk away. Now though, as he moved steadily down the hall from the the elevator to that room, he felt the anxiety welling up. But he had to do this. He didn't know why, he just had to do it.

The door swung open and he stepped inside. It was all still there, as if waiting for him to come back. Cameras primed and ready to go, the lights were off but all still aimed at that one spot. He stood before it, the thing they'd torn him apart on. It was a table of sorts, but it swivelled for different purposes. It could be turned straight up and down, or lay flat. It just depended what pain Cole wanted to inflict that particular day. He turned away from it to the trolley that was always wheeled over so emphatically. The many instruments and tools used on him. As he stared at them now, knowing almost everyone had inflicted unbelievable pain on him, he found it hard to believe he was still alive, found it hard to believe he had actually endured all of that. As much as he could still feel it, hear it, it was like it wasn't real. And the fact that he no longer bore any of the scars made it even more difficult to believe.

He heard the footsteps in the hall.

"I'm sorry, Tseng," he didn't look up from the trolley. The three Turks entered slowly, not sure what state he would be in.

"You knowingly endangered yourself, Reno, that was unacceptable."

"I know. I betrayed your trust, and I really am sorry."

"What are you doing here?"

"I can't do it, Tseng, I can't say everything they need me to say."

"You agreed to try."

"I know." He finally turned to them. "Nora is right, I am hiding behind the secret. I don't want you to know everything that happened, but I..." He couldn't find the words to express what he needed, what he wanted. "This... I can't _tell_ you about all of this." He said gesturing to the set up all around him.

He turned his back on them again and lay a hand on the table. "This is where it happened." Then he looked at the trolley. "This is what they used." He drug open a drawer and pulled out an object. "Electric shock." He dropped it to the ground and grabbed another one, "fingers." He dropped it to the ground as well and continued to pulled out instruments, naming off their uses and creating a pile. "Burned me. Cut me. Inserted it in me." It went on, they were all too stunned to make him stop until his shoulders began to shake and he started throwing the instruments, his words failing him. He finally toppled the whole trolley and none of them wanted to acknowledge the sheer number of instruments that spilled to the floor.

"FUCK!" Reno screamed, slamming his fist into the table. "Fuck that bastard!" He swung at the lights now. The equipment began crashing all around him, heavy lights smashing into a million tiny shards, the camera falling dangerously close to him.

"Reno." It was Tseng who reached him first, only because Rude had to catch a falling light before it toppled backwards into them. For a few moments Reno struggled against Tseng's hold but then he just gave up.

"Get me out." he managed, clinging to his boss' arm for support as his knees began to give.

Tseng kept him upright and got him out into the hallway. Back int he pristine whiteness, Reno pulled away from Tseng and fell to all fours. He thought he was going to be sick, but nothing happened, he was just shaking and sweating. His hands were pressed flat on the ground, slick with blood from where he'd wildly punched and hit things. He shut his eyes, he didn't want to cry, he didn't want to feel anything right now, he just wanted escape.

"Breathe, Reno." He heard Tseng instruct, kneeling next to him, a hand on his back. He became aware of his panting breaths and swallowed, trying to make it calm.

"I'm sorry." He said, face masked by his red hair, still staring down at the mess of his hands. "I'm so sorry."

"For what?"

"I don't know." Reno shook his head. He felt the pain building in his chest, nothing to do with his heart now, just sheer pain from the panic attack welling up in him. He sat back on his knees trying to find more air. They were all there, faces showing so many things. Horror at witnessing that room, those tools. Concern for their friend. Elena reached out and gripped his arm.

"Hey, Reno, you still with us?" he knew how crazed he must look, he knew how much his chest heaved in the effort to control his breaths. He nodded.

"Yeah, I'm still here." He looked to her, felt the tears he was fighting spill out. Not sobs, just slow streaks forming on his cheeks. "I thought about you." He said. "Everyday. All of you." Her hand slid to his and he gripped back tightly even through the pain and blood. "I was so afraid."

"Afraid?" Elena prompted and his eyes fell back on her. He nodded.

"Yeah," more tears came out. "He would tell me about the things he would do to you all when he got you. Especially you." He raised his other hand to stroke her hair. "Not for Achilles. Not for Rufus, but because he hated me."

He dropped his hand and turned to Rude. "And that's why he shot you. If I had just let him win, if I had stopped defying him he wouldn't have done it. I thought you were dead, Rude, because of me."

Rude's steady hand clamped over his shoulder. "No Reno, because of him, not because of you, never because of you."

"But why?" he clutched his face. "Why didn't I let it end? If I had just given in it would have stopped. And maybe I wouldn't be like this."

"Because you were so much better than him, Reno. Because you are stronger than even we knew." Tseng gently lowered Reno's hands from his face, blood now mixed with the steady trickle of tears. "Because you are who you are and you didn't let another man change that, not for anything."

Reno didn't say anything. He stared hard back at Tseng and just breathed. More water brimmed up and he bowed his head so the Director wouldn't see.

"You don't have to hide it from us." Tseng said steadily, knowing that Reno was using everything to stop the whole onslaught of sobs.

"I don't want to be like this." Reno said, fighting past the first hiccoughed sob, his hands clutching his gut and he hunched over. Elena reached over to lay a comforting hand on his back but he suddenly lurched to his feet and moved past them.

"Reno." Rude's hand on his shoulder stayed him. For a moment they stood like that, Rude refusing to let go, Reno refusing to turn around and face them. They could hear the sobs now, see how much his body shook, but he continued to fight it. "Reno," Rude said again, "it's us."

Bloodied hands covered his face and he broke down. Elena moved in front of him and slipped her arms around him. He couldn't speak anymore, it was all coming out at once and he clung back to her tightly, his face hidden in her shoulder. She watched the other two, and she felt her own eyes water up at the sound of absolute sorrow that wept out of Reno. But they were all there, the four of them together, bound by a fellowship deeper than blood, and despite the agonizing road ahead, they knew no nameless man could win over them.

* * *

**3 months later**

_A large room. A long corridor. A path of red and a man dressed in a black and white waiting for him at the end. Countless faces. A white rain. _

"Snap out of it!" Reno shook his partner's shoulders. "Rude, stay with me buddy. Not much longer now, mission is almost complete."

Rude looked in those steady green eyes he'd missed in the last months at his side. But today his partner was back with him, their first mission in so long was to be perhaps their most important.

"The Director says we are a go." Reno straightened Rude's collar and took hold of his arm.

"Wh-what?" The bald man stammered, staring at the door before them.

"And Elena says they're all ready on her end. We have to go now, if we're gonna get there on time."

"Reno..."

"Don't tell me you're going rogue on me, Rude."

"Would you please cut that out!" Rude finally came to himself and grabbed Reno's jacket. "This is not a mission! It's my wedding day!"

A broad smile spread over pale features and those green eyes lit up in that mischievous way. "Hey, what's the difference? You got a target, an objective, and your partner at your side. Sounds like a mission to me."

"Just stop talking, idiot, and tell me how I look."

"As bald as ever. Can't believe that's what Nora digs."

"Shut it. Let's go."

"Yes sir!" Reno pushed open the door and they stepped into the long hall, people lining the crimson walkway- Tseng, Rufus, and behind them a sea of black—every last Turk had showed up for this day. On the other side they spotted Dr. Smith, several other members of the medical staff and Shinra in general. Rude noted that Reno nodded to Tseng and the Director leaned to his lapel, whispering something.

"I told you, this is _not_ a mission." Rude hissed, taking his spot at the front of the hall with Reno at his side. The red head just winked up at him.

"Hey, what can I say?" He shrugged. "Turks only know how to do things one way, and that's the right way." He clapped his partner on the back and on cue, the music started, the door opened once again, and Nora stepped out, her gorgeous brown skin illuminated by the white flowing gown draped over her stunning figure in true sophisticated beauty. Behind her, Elena carried her train in a long velvet-green gown that matched the bouquet in Nora's hands. The ceremony went perfectly, not a cue missed, not a hair out of place in true Turk form. When the vows were said, the promises made and the slim golden bands slid on fingers, Rude grabbed his wife close and gave her a deep kiss, her brown curls falling back as he dipped her low.

There was joy. Everyone clapped and shouted and they marched out, Rude with Nora, Reno swinging his arm through Elena's and following after the couple who were showered in rice.

They celebrated long into the night, even after the couple departed for their honeymoon and everyone waved them off. Reno danced with Elena. He even pulled Tseng off his chair and convinced him to give the dance floor a try. But eventually it had to end, people trickled away, Elena left exhausted and Tseng excused himself having had enough partying to last him until the next wedding. Reno slumped into a chair, glass of wine in hand, and looked across the table at one of the few people left in the hall.

"Yo Rufus. Have a good time?"

"Reno. Of course, I am happy for them."

The red head rolled his eyes and leaned over the table. "That's not what I meant." Rufus watched him carefully.

"Everyone hates me, Reno, I am here by token alone."

"Ah, so feeling sorry for yourself then." Reno drawled, the alcohol audible in his speech but it didn't seem to do anything to dull those brilliant eyes. "Guess I know what that's like."

"The eleven weeks you spent in recovery can hardly be called feeling sorry for yourself Reno. And if you don't understand that, you shouldn't be out here yet."

At first that piercing gaze challenged him, almost looked angered, but it relaxed with Reno's muscles and he slouched back in his seat, flinging his feet up onto the table and draining his glass.

"You would know, more than anyone, eh? No, I don't feel sorry for myself, and I didn't then. And neither did you, Rufus, and I appreciated that. I don't know that I can forgive you yet, but the help you gave me the last months...well it's a start. And whether you see it or not, the Turks are grateful too, it's just going to take time."

Rufus just nodded. Reno let his head fall back over the chair and stared at the ceiling. Candles and lights flickered all over the room, creating a spider works of shadows to dance above him even when the room was nearly empty. He shut his eyes, feeling the wine swirling in his head.

"Are you really okay now?" The voice was just beside him. He jolted, his chair tipping but the President stayed him. Green eyes reluctantly opened but met that steady gaze with no fear or repulsion anymore.

"Yeah. I mean...it will always be there, but I know how to deal with it now."

"Okay then."

"Okay then, what?" Rufus straightened Reno's chair for him and the Turk slid his legs off the table. He took hold of Rufus' arm to steady himself when he stood, the wine had hit him pretty hard.

"Okay then I'm ready to grant your request, Reno."

The shaking hand on his arm was joined by another and Reno held tight to Rufus' suit in order to maintain eye contact.

"You mean it?"

"Yes, Reno. Your first mission back in the field will be to rehabilitate Cole's men- train them for jobs here or prepare them for life outside, it's up to you, just make sure they find a place and there are none among them who would rise to Cole's place."

"Yes sir." Reno answered with a serious tone that managed to penetrate his drunkenness.

"Good. Then I think it's time you get to bed." He began to lead Reno from the hall, one of his personal security team taking over to guide Reno safely back to his quarters, but Rufus called after them only a few seconds later.

"Reno, there's one more thing." There was no hiding the solemn edge to the President's voice.

"What is it, Rufus?"

"Yesterday we recovered some files. I found out Cole's real name, would you like to know it?"

But almost at once the red head shook his head. "No Rufus. I don't. Charles Cole is dead. He left no legacy."

"Fair enough. I'll burn the file, no one but me will ever know."

"Thank you. One last secret I'll ask you to keep for me."

"That sounds like a good deal, Reno. Now go to bed."

"I think I will."

But when he was left in his dark room by the guard, his bed was the last place he wanted to be. Instead he slipped out into the dark and silent halls, tread down the carpeted corridor to the illuminated exit sign. He climbed the many steps between his floor and the helicopter landing pad. The starry night was muted by a haze of pollution as always, but he found the ledge without trouble, as he had many nights, unbeknownst to any friend or doctor who had been with him through his recovery.

This was his place, and he only shared it with one other being.

"It happened tonight."

He spoke to the pavement far below as he balanced on the edge. A dry wind pulled at his suit, but nothing would tear him from his perch unless he wanted it to.

"I didn't think it ever would. I kind of started to believe you, Cole. But you were wrong, after all. Tonight I felt happiness. I don't think I could even put it into words, but I felt it, without a doubt. I added a memory I want to keep. One more to hold up against the ones you gave me."

He took a long breath and smiled to the distant blacktop.

"And if I can feel happy, then that can only mean one thing. You are truly dead. You did not ruin me, I can be happy, I can laugh, I can live. I can be alive again, because even the nightmares of what you did to me can't take this feeling away. So this is good bye. No more nightly visits. No more anything, Charles Cole. Not even a name to remember you by. Because I am alive. And you, you sorry son of a bitch, you are dead. Truly, and forever."

He stepped back from the edge, staggering a bit from the remnants of his drinks. But the warmth of alcohol had nothing to do with the feeling of weightlessness about him. Because he knew it was true. The charcoal shadow that had stained his life for so long now had finally lifted. And in the dead of night he felt the sun breaking over him, he felt the dawn of a new day, one in which no nameless man could harm him.

He was free.

* * *

_**Thank you so much for sticking through this rough ride with me. I hope the end satisfies you, it did me.**_

_**Riza.**_


End file.
